


Not all villains are evil REDUX

by Excalipur



Category: Underfell AU - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, Other, Plenty of References Alright, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Humor, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-08-21 07:40:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16572446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excalipur/pseuds/Excalipur
Summary: Once again lost in a world that wishes you were gone, you will have to fight to survive and find answers.Is there a way out of this nightmare, or will you die searching for it?





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Not all villains are evil](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127207) by [Excalipur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excalipur/pseuds/Excalipur). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up, alone and in a forgotten place.  
> You cannot remember anything about yourself, but even you can figure out that that weird cat is not meant to be there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A remake of Not all villains are evil which I will be working on every now and then when I'm bored. I will try releasing a new chapter every Friday, but don't expect me to keep an actual schedule since I do have a much bigger personal project currently in the works as well.
> 
> As far as the story goes, it more or less follows the premise of the fiction that inspired it, though everything's much more polished and refined: the story may diverge a little at certain points and the characters will be somewhat different from how they were in the original work, but substantially it'll be more of the same.
> 
> Unfortunately, I had to remove the option to vote for key story decisions: I figured that, to avoid unnecessary complications, the Strawpoll feature had to go. That doesn't mean, however, that your input won't be considered at all: if you have any suggestions or want to point out errors I made while writing, feel free to do so in the comments below. Indeed, feedback is very appreciated, so I hope at least some of you will be kind enough to give me their opinions on the story every once in a while.
> 
> Well, have a good read! See you next chapter.A remake of Not all villains are evil which I will be working on every now and then when I'm bored. I will try releasing a new chapter every Friday, but don't expect me to keep an actual schedule since I do have a much bigger personal project currently in the works as well.
> 
> As far as the story goes, it more or less follows the premise of the fiction that inspired it, though everything's much more polished and refined: the story may diverge a little at certain points and the characters will be somewhat different from how they were in the original work, but substantially it'll be more of the same.
> 
> Unfortunately, I had to remove the option to vote for key story decisions: I figured that, to avoid unnecessary complications, the Strawpoll feature had to go. That doesn't mean, however, that your input won't be considered at all: if you have any suggestions or want to point out errors I made while writing, feel free to do so in the comments below. Indeed, feedback is very appreciated, so I hope at least some of you will be kind enough to give me their opinions on the story every once in a while.
> 
> Well, have a good read! See you next chapter.

                You wake up with a tremendous headache and a blurry vision, and struggle to even rise as your body seems determined to collapse on the ground every time you manage to get on your knees. As your eyes stop deceiving you and your legs working against you, you finally take a moment to look at your surroundings: everything seems covered in old, burnt grass, emanating a smell of ash and smoke that seems somewhat recent.

                “Maybe I should stop looking at the ground…”, you tell yourself as you realize you’ve been staring downwards all this time: whatever you drank or smoked the night earlier, it must’ve been quite the trip. You begin to inspect the environment around you, this time without your head stuck looking downwards: you seem to be stuck in… some kind of cave, with unsightly, rocky walls all around you and even some large, grey boulders stuck in the ground in certain places.

                You turn your gaze upwards and notice how the cave’s walls converge on a point far beyond your sight, possibly a hole of some kind: that would explain how you ended up here, and the poor state of your theoretical ‘landing spot’ would explain the excruciating pain you feel all over your body. What’s important, however, is that you’re alive and well… sort of. You’re not even sure being alive is a good thing at this point.

                You try to remember what you were doing before you came here, but the more you attempt to recall the more your head hurts and the world spins. The theory of you getting drunk or doing drugs is slowly gaining credibility in your head. Were you ever one for such things though? “Who cares?”, you end up telling yourself, “I’ll probably remember soon anyway.”

                Before you start looking for a way out, you realize getting a good look at yourself would help you recall some information, so you inspect your body and your clothing: you’re wearing a simple black shirt under a leather jacket, also pitch black. Both the jacket and the shirt are quite simple, very light and sleeveless, though the shirt also has a short message written on it in grey: ‘Stayin’ Alive’. “Weird, but… okay.”, you conclude. You’re also wearing a pair of very agile gym trousers with bright grey lines riding through their entire length, as well as dark boots that are remarkably comfortable despite their edgy design. You can also feel your long, untamed, auburn hair sliding down your shoulders, as well as your small breasts peeking from under your shirt, but aside from that there’s not much else about yourself that you can tell.

                “Is this… my body?”, you ponder, questioning, “It… doesn’t really feel like it is. I remember being younger, for some reason. Must have hit my head pretty badly to not remember my own body, huh?”

                Now, to get out of here. You make a few steps forward, but a childish cough surprises you from behind, making you jump and almost trip again: you turn around only to see an odd cat staring at you from on top of a rock, sitting on it amused like a human as its tail moves left and right in a slow, yet hypnotic fashion. What unsettles you most about it, aside from its ability to seemingly cough like a normal person, is its short, black and white fur, or rather how the entire right side of its body is pitch black and how the left one is wholly white, as well as its wide-open eyes, the irises of which are white for the right one and black for the left one. The feline grins as widely and unsettlingly as a demon before speaking, in a tone that is somewhat friendly, if only slightly ironic:

                *Howdy!

                Its voice startles you, you weren’t really expecting a cat to not only suddenly appear behind you, but to start talking like a normal human as well, and in such a… weird voice, too: it’s really high-pitched, like a child’s, but the cat doesn’t seem very young. At least, you’re now pretty sure you’re prepared for anything. With an unexpectedly cold and sarcastic tone, the cat immediately adds, before you can reply:

                *No, but seriously: ‘Howdy’? Can you believe some people still use that word to this day? Give me a break…

                Trying to butt in, you muster your courage and mutter, with a soft and mature voice that, at first, you do not recognize as your own:

                *What… What are you?

                *Me? I’m a cat, duh! Nothing unusual about me, nothing at all… but what about you? You don’t seem like a typical inhabitant of this place…

                You’re surprised by the cat’s last affirmation: are they implying that there are others passing through… no, actually living in this cave you now find yourself in? The thought of encountering others simultaneously reassures and terrifies you, but you are still very much focused on the fact that you’re talking to a literal cat. Hoping to learn new information, you keep asking questions:

                *Where am I?

                *What? How come you, of all people, don’t know it? You must’ve hit your head real hard, huh?

                You keep staring at the cat, unsure of how to interpret this. They sigh, as they widen their arms and tell you, like a show host introducing a new event for their guests:

                *Welcome to the Underworld, you lil’ bitch! Or, as the locals call it… the Underground.

                You make a few, short steps backwards, staggered: you do not even have time to think about the way that feline insulted you, your mind is racing at the thought of you ending up in Hell, of all places. You voice your concerns to the cat, who simply scoffs at them as they explain:

                *Eh, don’t worry about it kid: you’re not REALLY in Hell! Not yet anyway… but I can promise you that this place will become more akin to it in a moment, trust me.

                Still unsure of what to make of these revelations, you remain stiff and silent as the cat jumps off from the rock they’ve been sitting on and makes their way towards you, their grin sluggishly, almost imperceptibly widening every second as they approach you just as slowly.

                *Who are you, and what do you want from me?

                *Oh, there’ll be plenty of time to introduce myself later… but time’s of the essence right now, so I’m only going to tell you a few, very important things. Nothing too big, you know… just a couple of facts you should know is all.

                You tell the critter that you are willing to listen, but that you’re not sure whether you can trust them or not.

                *Oh, that’s fine: whether you believe me or not is wholly up to you… though, given your situation, I wouldn’t be one to turn down free info just like that!

                You concede that the cat has a point. Reluctantly, you listen to whatever they have to say.

*So, first off, your name is Frisk. There you have it: the first piece of the puzzle that is your past! I know you lost your memories, but fear not: they’ll come back soon enough, with or without your consent… oh! I bet you’re wondering why I told you your name, of all things… or maybe you just want to know how I know it in the first place…

*As a matter of fact, I do, so spit it out!

                The creature shushes you with a motion of their hand… paw… thing, and shouts:

                *You really think I’ll tell you? Come on, that’d be too easy… so, let’s get back on track: I told you your name because you deserve to know at least something about yourself, but you should be careful about revealing it to others. The people of this world… won’t react very nicely once they learn it; to be fair though, they likely won’t react well to your presence either. Not that they’d be unjustified in doing so…

                *H-Hold on… what are you talking about? And why are you…

                *Quiet! I don’t have all day, and to be honest, neither do you.

                You exhale a potent sigh from your nostrils as you cross your arms and ready yourself for whatever else the cat wants to tell you. You’re not even sure that this is a real cat, but the last thing you want to find out is that you’ve hit your head so hard you began hallucinating, of all things. The cat’s grin widens to impossible degrees and the scorn in their eyes multiplies to infinity as they finally tell you, chilling the blood coursing through your veins:

                *So… here’s the thing. Whatever happens beyond that door, whatever tortures you’ll have to endure, whatever atrocities you’ll be forced to witness, just remember: all of this… is entirely your fault. You deserve all of it and even more… but cheer up! You’ll most likely die before you even reach that point anyway.

                The creature chuckles once more, amused, before finally concluding:

                *Well, have fun you two!

                You hear a loud banging noise echoing through the caverns behind you and, during the brief moment you dared look backwards as an automatic response, the cat disappeared. “Great.”, you comment inaudibly, “That was fucking pointless.”

                Sounds of quick, impatient footsteps soon follow to the noise that just reached you, and your brain starts working as fast as it can: you try to piece together the cat’s advice and, in the heat of the moment, you decide to take them at their word against your better judgment. That means that, according to them, whoever’s coming here, to put it lightly, doesn’t have your best interests at heart: you decide to hide and wait it out, hoping for the best.

                You identify a stone sizeable enough to hide behind amongst the rubble and quickly run for it, barely reaching it as what seems to be a very large door located on the other side of the room slams open with a bang identical to the one you heard earlier. Whoever it is that came looking for you, if that’s their real purpose, is definitely not in a bright mood today; so you look away from them, to avoid the temptation of exposing yourself to their eyes, and pray to whatever God’s out there that you can make it out of here safely.

                To break the silence is a smooth, velvety voice unlike anything you’ve heard in the… admittedly only five minutes you’ve been conscious. The man to whom that voice belongs to is pretending to be more childish than they really are, but the hint of sadism hiding behind their sweet words betrays their enmity.

                 *Huh… I could’ve sworn I heard someone tumbling in here. Hello? Is anyone there?

                No response. You know better than to make a sound, no matter how low it may be. You hide behind your rock, your only friend in such a desperate time, as you hope that whatever creature that voice belongs to cannot hear the rhythmic beat of your heart or the screams you’re keeping trapped in your head.

                *…Hello? I can’t hear you, speak up!

                Still no answer from you. For a few seconds, silence reigns again over the room before a collected, menacing laugh suddenly tears through the air and makes its way into your ears, freezing you from the inside out. The intruder claps slowly, as if this situation were amusing to them, before remarking with a completely different, even more sadistic tone:

                *Well then! I guess there really is nobody here… my hearing must have worsened over time, against all odds. Oh, well… I needed to come here to ‘clean up’ the place anyway…

                You hear a snapping sound as a column of black fire suddenly bursts from the ground right before you, almost incinerating you on the spot as you clench your grip on the rock and struggle to not let a sound escape from your lips. In an instant you dart your gaze left and right, and from what you can see from this limited view of your surroundings there are no other flames appearing anywhere else: whoever this person is, not only did they know of your presence, but also of your exact location… at this point, they’re just toying with you, you figure out.

                The flames soon die out, and you can picture the entity shaking his head as he concludes with a witty tone, evidently joking:

                *…Still no reaction, huh? Perhaps I really am imagining things… after all, it would be rude for anyone around to not say anything after going to such lengths just for them. I guess I will just take my leave, then… and see myself out.

                A few seconds later, you hear more footsteps as well as that old banging noise for the third time, making you think that the man has finally left the room: however, having learned in so little time of this man’s dangerousness, you decide to remain put for a few more minutes and wait to see whether the man has truly left or not. You keep crouching behind the stone, immobile, for what seems like an eternity, as all your attempt to count the time that has passed miserably fail, partially because you do not know for how long you are supposed to be counting for.

                You eventually grow tired of waiting and, trusting your gut, you slowly peak from behind your hiding spot: you see nobody standing in the room with you, and everything is as you left it. Cautiously, you walk in the direction of the door, quickly darting from a rock to the next fearing that the intruder may have feigned his leave and hidden behind a boulder instead; and yet, you see nothing out of the ordinary. Between the cat’s unsettling words and this unknown’s creature thinly-veiled malevolence, you’re becoming more and more paranoid by the minute.

                The door that the entity entered and left through soon comes into view: it’s big, old, and there’s a weird-looking symbol carved on the wall above it; however, it’s too ancient and ruined to understand what it’s really supposed to represent. As for the door, it’s mostly made out of cold, hard stone, but you’re confident that a strong-enough person could push through it and make it to the other side; what you’re not sure about is that you’re that kind of person.

                Before you even touch the door, something catches your eye: a painting of some sort, the kind kids often make, left on the surface of the boulder closest to the exit. It depicts a large house, or perhaps a palace of some sort, with a family of horned creatures living inside, seemingly happy; what’s most eerie about the drawing, aside from the odd choice of subject, is that the entire picture was drawn with a sole color, red… blood red. As you turn to face the rest of the room, you realize that this old painting is not the only one around you: dozens of other, similar-looking works are scattered on both the stones and the walls, giving this place an even creepier vibe than before. You likely didn’t see them before due to the direness of your situation, and now you wish you never did.

                You turn around once more and push the door, moving it with ease despite its massive size: it seems that there’s more strength in your small body than your limbs would otherwise suggest. Good for you, you think.

                You now find yourself in a long hallway of sorts, much different from the room you were in just now: the filthy caverns have been replaced by ordered walls and pillars, colored by a deep, more natural shade of red and partially hidden by ivies and other similar plants. The place is old, very old, and yet everything’s still very neat and tidy, if only slightly empty. At the end of the room stands an ornate door not too dissimilar from the one you just entered from, likely leading-

                *Why, howdy!

You hear the voice from before shouting these words from behind you, almost giving you a heart attack: agitated, you turn around and raise your fists, scared but ready to fight whatever’s coming at you as the door finally closes, leaving you locked in with this… monster. A creature unlike any other stares at you from just a few meters ahead, his leer unlike the cat’s but just as unsettling: his form reminds you of a horned goat of some sort, between the white fur that covers his body entirely, his long floppy ears and the sharp horns protruding from behind them, but aside from these grotesque features his appearance is almost humanlike. He’s wearing a very consumed sweater with red and black horizontal lines under a dusty black furred jacket, with a pair of torn black pants completing his edgy look.

                *I know I have already said this, but what you did back there was quite rude, you know? Was that an attempt to make fun of me or something? Because I usually do not react well to those kinds of pranks…

                Each and every one of the monster’s words sends a chill down your spine, and every fiber of your being is begging you to turn around and run like your life depended on it… which, most likely, is true: however, with fiery determination, you somehow manage to keep yourself anchored to the ground and to stop sweating, in an attempt to convey an image of strength and resolve that might help you among the way. After all, a badass always fares better than a coward in most situations… or so you would like to think.

                *Ah, but worry not: I am not one to take offense at such things, not at all… not from someone like you, anyway. It did leave a sour taste in my mouth, but it’s all gone now, believe me! After all, I have been waiting for someone like you for ages! And now that you are here, everything’s going to be so much… better…

                You are sure the creature’s meaning of ‘better’ is not the one you have in mind. You decide to boldly look him in the eyes, straight into those blood red irises surrounded by yellow sclera, only to see both contempt and glee dancing in them: you are not sure whether he likes you or detests you more, but at this point who’s to say which possibility would be better?

All of a sudden, the monster grabs your arm and slams you against the nearby wall, thankfully without too much strength: however, he is now so close that you can feel his warm breath caressing your face repulsively, grinding his body against yours in a chilling display of power, as he addresses you one last time:

                *Oh, how rude of me! I have not even introduced myself yet! Apologies, apologies… my name is Asriel, dear human: care to tell me yours?


	2. Stayin' Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are tracked by a deadly beast, with no clue of where to go next.  
> Things are looking rough, but as long as you keep fighting to the end you will keep on surviving...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had to prepare myself for an exam and so I ended up behind schedule by two days.  
> Hopefully the next few chapters will be less boring... and shorter, too. TwT
> 
> Have fun reading! See you next Friday (hopefully)!
> 
> (Also please comment if you are enjoying this I could really use some encouragement TwT

                Mustering the resolve needed to fight back, you push back the monster whilst yelling:

                *Back off, you creep!

                The creature named Asriel does let you go, astonished for a second, but ultimately amused by your actions.

                *Why, how rude! Got to admit, it’s the first time someone dared to shove me like that… or to address me in such a manner. You have guts, I will give you that…

                *What the Hell is wrong with you!? Who do you think you are, some kind of God?

                *God? Oh, please! Not even I am so vain…

                You refrain from speaking out of turn, still unsure of how to handle this almost demonic individual. Just a glance at his blood-red eyes is enough to make your stomach turn, but you cannot afford to turn away from him even for a second. His noble demeanour, you fear, is only a mask to hide something even more frightening than his fashion sense.

                With a solemn, almost friendly-ish tone, he explains:

                *No, I am merely the rightful ruler of this humble place. Although, ruling is not really my thing: playing is more to my liking, but unfortunately I have lacked a toy to play with for the longest time… until today, that is.

                The way he looked at you when he spoke of a ‘toy’ puts you on an even higher alert, and so you reply, hoping to assert your dominance over this clown:

                *Well, fuck you too, tough guy: if you think you can just waltz in and claim me as your toy, you got another thing coming to ya. My fist, that is.

                The monster raises an eyebrow, surprised by your comeback, before slowly breaking into a long laugh, one that you just cannot help but get angry at. With a weird smile on his face, Asriel mutters:

                *Feisty: I like that. Definitely a nice change of pace from all those subservient flies buzzing around me every day… at least you, you will be fun to break down.

                *Why, you…!

                *But hey, I get it! I can see why you wouldn’t want to be a toy: indeed, a splendid girl like you is worthy of so much more than to be toyed with once and never again…

                You keep staring at him in the eyes, combative and ready for a fight: you are not sure if you can even fight this devilish creature standing evilly before you, but you would rather die fighting for your life than as a result of this bastard’s ‘playing’… whatever he means.

                *So, if you do not want to be my toy, how about you be my playmate? I am sure you and I would have plenty of fun that way as well…

                *…Playmate?

                *Why, yes! I know the perfect game for the occasion as well: it’s called ‘Catch’.

                You cannot recall the game he’s talking about, but you are sure it’s not one you will enjoy playing very much. The monster explains:

                *The rules are very simple: you will run away, and I will run after you. If I catch you though, well…

                A pillar of black fire emerges from the ground before you, extending all the way to the ceiling; this time, you waste no time in running past the monster as he laughs and concludes maliciously his sentence:

                *…You lose! Bwahahahaha!

                You run as fast as you can, but it takes a while for the creature to start running after you: evidently, he wants to give you an advantage of some sort. To make the game more interesting, you suppose. But it’s not in your plans to let him win: you may not recall anything about yourself or your life, but you’re not going to let that guy use you like a doll as he sees fit. You’re breaking out, and that’s a matter of fact.

                You reach the end of the corridor: the door gets closer to you with every step you make, so you muster your strength and use your shoulder to charge through…

                ( **The Forgotten -** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN53IwVVJaY>)

                You make it through the door effortlessly and find yourself in a decadent garden, filled with trees and flowers that are as harmonious in their positioning as they are rotten in their presentation: you are not sure whether this is due to a lack of effort in keeping them alive or if that’s just how those plants usually are, but you figure out that’s not your main concern right now.

                You quickly realize that you are inside a villa of some sort, as black and purple walls trap every way out: there are some doors you can use to escape both straight ahead and at your sides, but there’s no guarantee they will take you to safety, if you can even get them to open. As the door behind you closes with a bang, you run for the door on the other side of the garden and pry it open the same way you did with the previous one: it’s possible the monster that is chasing you could hear that and start tracing you, but there really is no way around making some noise as of now.

                You find yourself in a strange, dusty room, quite small and empty: it’s difficult to tell what kind of room it’s supposed to be, since there doesn’t seem to be much furniture at all, aside from a few cabinets stashed with who-knows-what and a whole lot of gothic-looking candelabra. There’s only one other door, but you only hurt yourself trying to get it open: it’s sealed shut, and you’re still tired from all that shoving from before.

                You cannot go back, so you inspect the room for places to hide: you find a weird drawing on a nearby wall, with carefully-written red letters composing the message “I took the liberty of adding some ‘puzzles’, so to say, to some of the rooms. This will surely make the game much more interesting, don’t you think? ;)”

                “Bullshit! How did he get ahead of me without me even noticing!? Is he really that fast!?”, you mutter to yourself, before realizing “No, that’s not it: he said he was waiting for a ‘toy’ for a long time, so he likely prepared all of this in advance. The asshole…”

                You turn to face the door once more: there’s nothing weird with it, but the four candelabra hanging near it catch your attention, as one of them is placed slightly higher than the others. Realizing that it can be moved, you push the candelabra downwards to the same level as the others, producing an unlocking sound and allowing you to open the door with ease.

                “Amateur…”, you think with a satisfied grin on your face as you make it to the next room: aside from the long, empty table laying in the middle on the room, running in parallel with its length, there’s not much else to worry about. You start running towards the exit on the other side of the chamber, an activity you are reluctantly growing quite accustomed to, until something shiny on the ground catches your eye.

                You are too late to stop your foot from running over a thin, golden wire, which triggers some kind of unseen mechanism you cannot see, only hear. You keep running, unsure of how to react to all this, when all of a sudden you feel the ground beneath you collapsing on itself, pulling you downwards: whatever is happening to the floor, it’s become apparent that you can no longer use it, so you try to find a way out of this situation as quickly as you can before you are killed by the deadly contraption.

                Out of the corner of your eye you spot the table from before, which has now become a bridge between the two untouched sides of the floor: perhaps its placement was accidental, but more likely than not it was placed there as a means of getting across the abyss that is now being created without triggering the trap. It’s too far away for you to use it, though, and so you start to panic: unsure of what to do, you instinctively relinquish control to… your ‘survival sense’, if we can call it that, as you have done plenty of times before.

                As if overtaken by a superhuman force, you jump towards the nearby wall and start running on it with the aid of your hand, allowing you to cover a considerable distance and jump a second time towards the edge of the chasm, barely grabbing it with both of your hands. You manage to pull yourself up, not without issues, and take a few seconds to recover your breath: you are not sure whether there’s water in the hole behind you, lava, spikes or just the empty darkness, but honestly you do not feel like finding out any time soon.

                Not wanting to remain in one spot for too long, you resume your hasty search for a way out, beginning with the door right before you: smashing through it, you end up in a finely-furnished hall, where the silky red curtains together, the black-and white chessboard motif of the floor and the absence of any other kind of furniture aside from a few isolated chairs suggest it being a ballroom of some kind, or perhaps it used to be one in the past. This time there’s more than one way out of here, leaving you more options to elude the beast chasing you, but without a map of some kind to guide you, you will have to solely rely on sheer luck.

                As you progress through the room, the thought of the monster chasing you too scary to bother checking for traps, you notice something hiding behind one of the curtains: the veil is suddenly lifted as you pass by to reveal a red, frog-like creature, cautiously hopping towards you with an undecipherable expression on its face, which is traversed from top to bottom by a strange scar. You stop for a second and look at the critter, fascinated by it, but also wary of potential danger.

                *Hey there, kid! Know any ways to get outta this place?

               ( **The Usual Business** - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4O2qo9Uz1w)

                Instead of replying like you expected the monster to, given how the cat from before was quite talkative despite being an animal, the frog screams at you instead as small white particles appear all around him and start flying towards you like flies, occasionally stopping in mid-air before resuming their journey: you touch one of the pellets to test it only to realize that, before disappearing into dust, they sting you like a bee’s stinger, convincing you to distance yourself from the toad further.

                *Hey, what was that for!? I didn’t do shit to you!

                Once again, instead of explaining itself, the frog starts running after you and tries to jump on top of you, an attack that would be somewhat scary if it weren’t so clumsy and adorable; still, you instinctively jump backwards to avoid it with surprising agility, even performing a pirouette in mid-air with considerable grace. It’s like gravity stops functioning correctly whenever it’s most convenient for you… which is, unsurprisingly, quite convenient.

                *Alright, you know what? If you wanna fight, let’s fight!

                You charge towards the monster, skilfully dodging its fly-like pellets with ease: the creature jumps towards you once more, but this time you react by sliding right under it, standing right behind him and punching it in the back with some of your strength, yelling ‘Ka-bam!’ in an attempt to sound cooler. You fail to impress anyone, but I am sure that won’t stop you from trying again.

                The monster lands on the ground a short distance away and struggles to rise up as you slowly approach it, pondering on what to do. You consider finishing it off, but you cannot bring yourself to do so: despite the monster attacking you first, the idea of killing it evokes weird, off-putting feelings in your head as well as a growing pain in your heart. As the monster raises its head, showing you some tears in an attempt to convince you to spare him, you sigh as you condescendingly tell him:

                *Get outta my sight, before I change my mind. You little shit…

                The frog silently thanks you for your compassion and starts running back to whence it came from, disappearing behind a curtain the same way it showed up: you check behind the drape looking for secret passages, but you find none. Odd. You have no time to search more in-depth, however, as you hear another sound coming from further ahead: a small, half-fairy half-demon creature, also scarred from top to bottom like the one before it, appears from behind a chair, looking at you for less than a second before sending waves of white butterflies after you.

                “God-fucking-dammit…!”, you yell in your head as you prepare yourself to face the new foe…

 

                You push the umpteenth door and end up in what appears to be the entrance hall of the complex, at last found after who knows how much time: room after room, battle after battle, you have safely made it to what appears to be a temporary safe haven, and without punching anyone to death as well. That’s surprising… or so you think. What’s also surprising is that you somehow managed to lose that beast, Asriel, pretty quickly: you expected him to catch up with you after all those random fights, but he never did find you. “Good for me… fuck that guy.”

                               Two sets of stairs bring to what appears to be the first floor of the building, but right now you are concerned solely with the huge doors right in front of you: a faint, tired light shines through the windows next to it, barely touching a wilted red rose living, or rather dying, within a small vase above a light table. It took you some time, a lot of sweat and even some blood, coughed up as a result of all the pain touching some of those white pellets gave you (though it was only emotional, for some reason, as they left no visible wounds or scars on your skin), but you finally made it out: now you only need open the doors to end this…

                …Nightmare. You fall to your knees as you stare soullessly into the vast city extending below you, with no exit in sight. Enveloped in what appears to be a huge, seemingly endless cave complex, the town is filled with ruined buildings, random fires, incomprehensible shouting and dusty winds that cover some parts of the place in pure white, giving you the impression of a society at its end. There is no way out of here… not through there anyway.

                *Come on… give me a break!

                And yet, the future looks still as bleak as ever. You are alive, sure… but trapped. The cat was right, in the end: this place looks more and more like Hell with every second you spend caged within it, and you are beginning to lose the fire in your eyes…


	3. Too Much Love Will Kill You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief encounter with the monster named Asriel, he leaves you to your own devices as you further explore the mansion.  
> With a tough battle against an unconventional opponent ahead of you, will you be able to keep on surviving...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished this a day earlier because I have yet another tough exam this Saturday... fuck my life...  
> Turned out a bit longer than I expected, but I doubt that'll be an issue for you. Have fun reading this!
> 
> And don't forget to comment to tell me your thoughts! You all know I love reading those, so please don't leave me hanging... TwT

                You keep staring at the apocalyptic view before you like a zombie, your brain unable to elaborate on the madness and destruction it is witnessing: you thought your biggest challenge would be evading that beast, getting out of the palace perhaps… you never expected the world you now find yourself in to be _this_ big. Indeed, the entire city extends below a sturdy, unbreakable rock ceiling that shows no exit: numerous attempts at breaking through this makeshift firmament are visible even from your location as small dents in the stone’s continuum, but none seem to have been successful in the slightest.

                “What the Hell am I supposed to do now!?”, you ask yourself, having almost lost all hope, “Get down there? Remain here? Damn it… I don’t know jack shit about this place! How am I supposed to know which is the less shitty alternative!?”

                *Fascinating view, is it not? Once, the biggest city in the Underground: now, the forgotten remains of our past… of monsterkind’s past.

                Your heart skips a beat upon hearing the now familiar voice of Asriel whisper in your ear, his arms slowly embracing you from behind, enveloping you fully before slightly tightening the grip: you are not sure whether he’s doing this to console you or to further scare you, so you decide to wait for a moment and see what he’s got in mind.

                *Now, I am sure I do not need to tell you that going down there would be… especially troublesome, both for you and for me: on one hand you would soon find yourself surrounded by lawless, heartless brigands and criminals which, honestly, would be quite a pain to deal with and, on the other, I would have to come running after you to grab you and pull you back here… and I am sure neither of us wants to go through all that trouble just for the sake of curiosity; right, my dear human?

                Asriel grabs hold of your hands with his own, further tightening his grip in a display of raw power: you are reminded of his original plan for you to become his plaything, as well as his implicit promise to harm you once he’d found you from earlier. Perceiving hostile vibes from the monster, you swiftly free yourself from his ‘hug’ and roll to a safe distance a few feet away: you’re pretty sure trying to outrun him at this point would be futile, but you’re not just going to sit idly as he does whatever he wants with you. If you are going to go down, you will at least go down fighting.

                *Still as feisty as ever, huh? I am beginning to like this trait of yours more with every second…

                The monster gently closes the doors leading outside before making a few slow steps forward in an intimidating fashion: his evil smirk and his crazed expression suggest an intent to do something horrible to you, but at the same time something else about his behaviour contradicts this notion as well. Not sure what to think or expect, you sit still as he finds the right words to continue with.

                *Well, seems like I won our little game after all! Personally, I think you could have put a little more effort into it, but I understand if fighting all those monsters proved too much for your fragile human body…

                “How does he know about that!?”, you ask yourself, shocked and confused, “Did he catch up to me without me even realizing it and keep spying on me anyway? This really is all a game to him!”

                Uncaring of your unspoken considerations, the evil-looking monster continues his speech:

                *Anyway, since you lost the game and all, I think it would be fair to ask… some kind of punishment on your end, would it not? After all, without high stakes, what even is the point of playing?

                All of a sudden, the monster charges you and pushes you on the ground, where you remain defenceless: your body is too tired to try and fight back, so you remain still as the creature climbs on top of you, delighting immensely in crawling all over you and especially from getting so close to your face with his muzzle that you can feel the hot hair exhaling from his nostrils. You are tempted to punch the monster right in his grin, but given the position you are in right now you doubt that would end well for you: instead, you calmly watch as Asriel grabs some kind of finely-decorated knife from his jacket and moves it closer to your face, the light from the ceiling reflecting onto the metal blade of the weapon right into your eyes.

                *Now, I was thinking of taking a small piece from you as… a prize, let’s put it like that! To commemorate this victory of mine over you, yes… would you like that? I will take your silence as a ‘yes’…

                You can only look as the knife gets closer and closer to your face: you are not sure whether he’s just trying to psyche you out or if he really intends to hurt you, but for now you only try to retain your composure… and keep some strength in your fists just in case. Just before the blade can touch you, however, Asriel’s grin disappears from his face, along with his usual sadistic expression, as he tells you, annoyed:

                *…You know, you really know how to kill the mood… along with my boner. How am I supposed to enjoy cutting you up if you do not bother trying to look even a little bit scared? Seriously, what is up with humans these days…

                He slowly gets up before reaching for your hand and helping you get up as well: you are now standing right before him, but once again you are not sure whether running away would help you at all, given the way he reacted to your stiffness.

                *You know what? Maybe it’s all due to all that running from before: I bet that’s what’s stopping you from reacting in an appropriate way… you simply have no breath left in you to scream is all. My fault, my fault… I should have thought this through more in-depth.

                *Or maybe I’d be more inclined to scream if you were actually, you know, scary and all…

                You shut your lips immediately, but the harm’s already been done: you are not sure whether you just said that out of absent-mindedness or out of cockiness, but the last thing you needed was for this monster to start being even more of a threat than he already is. Asriel is taken aback by your statement, but ultimately chuckles as he exclaims:

                *Wow, that hurts! Those words really cut deep, you know… are you sure you are not the one holding the knife?

                He suddenly grabs you by the shirt and pulls you closer, adding with a sickeningly evil expression:

                *Well then, if ‘scary’ is what you want, I will be more than happy to oblige…

                You wait for him to bite you, cut you, do something… but instead he just lets you go unharmed, shrugging his shoulders as he puts the knife back into his jacket’s pocket.

                *…Another time, I am afraid: I just remembered that I have some… business to take care of now.

                *What are you talking about?

                *Oh, you know: tidying the furniture, barricading the door, and teaching those monsters that dared to attack you without my permission a few manners… oh, do not worry! I am not going to kill them: since you decided to spare their lives despite their arrogance, I think it would be remiss of me to take them anyway… instead, I will simply make sure that they never attempt to spoil _my_ prize ever again.

                You keep staring at Asriel as he approaches the door once more and looks at it puzzled, then at the rest of the room, probably trying to figure out a way to barricade it as he said earlier. Trying to push for the exit now would be suicide, with him standing in the way and everything, so you stand there for a while thinking of what to do next. Noticing your silence, the monster turns to face you and tells you:

                *Well, what are you doing, just standing there? Do you appreciate my company, or are you desperate for it?

                Noticing your continued silence, as well as your expression of disapproval, he adds, uncaring:

                *I am busy now, so feel free to do whatever you want. My home is your home… or something like that. Consider this… a game of hide-and-seek, sure: you go and explore the house, hide wherever you want if you feel like it, and I will come and find you later. After all, there are no exits that you can use to leave… none that you can operate anyway.

                That last sentence gets your gears turning like a jolt of electricity, rekindling your hope: if there are other ways out of the house, maybe one of them will lead out of this cavern… it’s unlikely, you understand that, but there’s still a chance. And you are willing to take that.

                With renewed purpose, you start heading up the stairs, but the monster stops you halfway through by asking you, this time not as maliciously as before:

                *By the way, since you still have to pay from losing our game and all, how about you tell me your name? If I were you, I would gladly accept this compromise instead of, you know, losing an eye or two…

                You turn to face the monster: he’s giving you a smug look, shining some of his sharp teeth at you in order to look somewhat intimidating even when asking a normal question like this one. You are about to tell him that your name is Frisk when the words of the cat from before spring back to mind, warning you not to tell your name to anyone else you were prepared to face the consequences. You do not know why saying your name out loud would be so problematic, but given how that feline was right in forecasting everything that happened to you in the last few hours you cannot help but heed its advice.

                Trying to mimic the monster’s expression yourself in a display of power, you tell him, feigning indifference:

                *Name’s off-limits, tough guy… but you can call me Queen.

                The monster stares at you for a while, confused: evidently that was not the name he was expecting from you at all. Still, he briefly chuckles before commenting:

                *Queen… yes, I can get used to calling you that! After all, you _are_ my Queen… mine, and no-one else’s.  You are really tempting me to drop everything I am doing and come play with you a little more, but… work is work, I am afraid. After all, there will be plenty of time to play after I am done here…

                Sickened by the creature’s comments, you sigh in annoyance as you climb the last few steps and pass through the door leading to the first floor’s rooms: you have been around that creep for a while now, but you are still unsure whether he’s acting more like a child, a pervert, or a regular horny teenager. Nevertheless, you are not really in the mood to be frisky around him at the moment, so you decide to keep looking for a way out while he’s busy doing… whatever he said he wanted to do: you are not ready to give up hope yet, and that fool’s contempt for you will be his downfall one of these days… and hopefully, today will be that day.

 

                More rooms, more traps, more puzzles and more monsters: it seems like everywhere you go there’s something already there to try and make your life more infuriating. Even without the threat of Asriel popping up at any second behind you, getting through this endless onslaught of life-threatening problems is not any easier than before.

                The biggest problem are the monsters: while the traps are easily overcome with some elbow grease and the puzzles are solvable through smart-thinking, those dumb creatures still keep coming after you no matter how many you knock out. Nevertheless, you deal with them as usual: you figure out their patterns, you dodge their attacks, and you beat them into submission before they can even ask you to spare them. You then warn them never to come after you again, as well as to never speak of your encounters to Asriel, and so far everyone has listened with wide-open ears; sometimes the critters you beat even come back for you later, not to have a rematch, but to help you solve the obstacles you find on your way. Neat. You are not sure why anyone would want to help you after punching their souls out of their bodies, but it’s pretty neat nonetheless.

                You now find yourself in a corridor of sorts, but way wider than any you traversed so far: it’s as empty as all the others, with the only thing standing between you and the door to the next room being a big, reddish, transparent… ‘thing’ on the floor. It’s not big enough to cover the whole room’s length, so you figure out you can just ignore it and move on… but every time you try to move in such a way that you would be avoiding it, it slides across the floor to remain in your path! Is it doing that on purpose?

                As you approach the obstacle, it suddenly starts to… speak? If you can call repeating the letter ‘z’ over and over again ‘speaking’, that is…

                *Are you shitting me? Like, are you serious? Are you pretending to sleep or something?

                Your questions fall on deaf ears, as the thing keeps emitting that weird, annoying sound and refusing to budge.

                *Fine then, you wanna be an ass!? You can get whooped like one too! Ka-Bam!

                You try to punch the obstacle, but your fist simply phases through it, as if it weren’t even there to begin with, and you are forced to retract it as an unsettling, cold feeling starts building all around it. As you take a few steps back, you watch as the obstacle rises and turns around, staring at you with its huge, empty red eyes. The monster looks like a huge body pillow, its mouth a mere circle below a pair of depressing circles that are likely its eyes: they look angry, but also sad and even depressed. Maybe you should have come here at another time.

                ( **The Breathless** **-** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfFJH3Hujp4>)

                *thanks for reminding me that I’m a ghost… I guess…

                The monster with the wavy and tired voice begins crying, but you soon realize that the tears are not flowing towards the ground like they should, but that they are instead flying towards you! You nearly get hit by the unconventional projectiles as you move spastically to avoid them, unprepared for this kind of offensive.

                *i’m not really feeling it right now… why don’t you just go away…

                As you struggle to avoid the tears flying at you with remarkable speed, you are not sure what will kill you first: those, or the desire to kill yourself that the ghost’s depressing voice gives you. In any case, an all-out offensive like before would be pointless: you cannot beat something that cannot be hurt, you can figure out that much… but then how are you supposed to get past him? How are you supposed to survive this encounter at all?

                *Hey, would you _kindly_ stop shooting at me!? I’d really like not to die, thank you!

                *…you attacked me first…

                *’Cause you were going out of your way to block me! Why can’t you just let me pass and be done with it!?

                The monster briefly stops shooting, but quickly resumes, still mad at you for some reason.

                *i never asked you to come here to bother me… i just wanted to lie down and think… but everywhere i go, i keep being bothered by people like you... why should i be the one to go away…? i came here first… you can sit down and cry somewhere else…

                You are tempted to yell at him that he’ll be the one to sit down and cry after you’re done with him, but you know that would be pointless since you cannot follow up on that threat. Since violence won’t get you anywhere with this monster, you try to imagine an alternative way to get this ghost to stop shooting at you like that. You figure out the best way to get him to move out of the way is to listen to whatever he has to say, even if only the thought of it makes your eyes roll, and so you try to sound sincere as you ask:

                *Well then, what’s bothering you, big guy? You wanna talk about it?

                *no… you don’t really care about my problems… nobody does… you just want me to get out of your way…

                *…Shit… I mean, no! No, no, no… I mean, I’m really interested! I swear, like… why would I even be asking if I weren’t? I just want to help, see? Nobody deserves to cry so much they end up using their tears as weapons, like… that’s just really sad, and I don’t like that.

                The tears begin to slow down a bit and they start missing you more often: your words appear to be having an effect on the monster, even though he doesn’t act like it… hopefully you can keep the act up just a bit longer!

                *are you sure you’re really interested…? i don’t… i don’t mean to bother you and all…

                *Of course you ain’t bothering me! Now spit it out: keeping your troubles to yourself ain’t gonna help either of us, you know?

                The tears keep slowing down. After a brief sigh, the monster explains:

                *it’s just that… my cousin’s started a new business recently… he asked me to help him run it but… i don’t really get what he’s doing… and i’m afraid i’ll mess it all up for him…

                You listen to the ghost’s story intently, far more interested than you originally were; you almost don’t notice the tears have practically stopped flying in your direction at this point.

                *i’m afraid he’ll hate me if i ruin his dream… and everyone already hates me enough as it is… i just don’t know what to do…

                *Well, if my advice’s worth something, I suggest you go for it! You got nothing to lose, right?

                The hesitating monster looks at you unsure.

                *really…? but… what if everything goes wrong like it usually does…? i don’t want others to laugh at me again… especially not him…

                *Come on, kid! I’ve spent the last few hours running away from a psycho, facing traps, monsters and all that jazz! I could’ve stopped at any time, I could’ve given up the way you’re doing right now, but I wasn’t just going to let that bastard dictate whether I lived or died! Sometimes, you have to take matters into your hands and carve your own path… you get it?

                *uh… kinda…

                You realize only after finishing your sentence that none of what you said had anything to do with the ghost’s problem. You start blushing out of awkwardness, but you stop when you notice the monster’s stopped crying and is advancing towards you non-threateningly! It seems even the ghost knew you were talking out of your ass but was inspired anyway!

                *yeah… you’re right... i think… i really should try to stop living my life… or my death i guess… worried about what others think… i want my cousin to be proud of me… so i guess i will go and help him anyway…

                *Yeah! And even if you do fuck up, I’m sure he won’t be as pissed as you think he’ll be: if he worries over you half as much as you do over him, he won’t be fazed at all!

                The transparent creature looks at you for a while, inexpressive, before mustering a semblance of a smile on his face.

                *thanks… nobody’s ever been this kind with me before… i never even asked you to be my friend... but you’ve been acting like you were this entire time… i’m grateful…

                *Yeah, yeah, I’m pretty awesome, huh? Be sure to send my regards to your cousin, alright?

                With a wave of your hand and uh… well, a nod of his, uh… you two bid each other goodbye, alright? The monster phased through the floor, and you waved at him happily every step of the way. You feel good, for once, but you’re not sure why.

                “Welp, that was fucking pointless.”, you tell yourself, glad that it’s finally over, “Hopefully I’ll have a few minutes to rest though: I need some time to recover from all that emotional labour and all…”

                And yet, as you hear the door you came from open behind you, you realize that’s not going to be the case at all.

                *…God fucking damn it…


	4. Another One Bites The Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are caught up in a battle that is more difficult than anything you faced so far.  
> With more than just your life on the line, will you be able to triumph, or is this where your path will end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I ended up being quite busy for the weekend and even the last few days were... not the best I ever had, to put it lightly.  
> Nevertheless, I finally finished this. Took way longer than I should've, but once again my lazyness keeps pulling me down.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, it turned up much different from what I originally envisioned but I tried keeping it as entertaining as possible. Have a good time!

                The door opens to reveal the shadow of the only monster in this God-forsaken place whose face and name you bothered to remember: Asriel… something, something. Alright, you didn’t bother to learn all of it, but you don’t need to either way. He enters the room cautiously, seemingly bored, but as soon as he sees you a devious smile appears on his face: he approaches you with swiftness and grace, using one hand to brush the fur on his head backwards as if he were straightening his hair.

                *Well, there you are! Honestly, I figured you would have reached my humble abode by now, but it seems you were slower than I expected… did someone block your way again? You know you need only give me a name for me to remove that distraction… permanently…

                You keep looking at the beast as he elegantly walks towards you, crossing your arms and furrowing your eyebrows: you briefly consider giving him a straight answer, but you figure you don’t owe that bastard any of your time, and so you stand perfectly still as he comes closer and closer.

                *…No witty response this time? You know, you are really disappointing me…

                *Good: I plan on doing that more often.

                *Ha! Now, there’s the answer I was looking for! I should probably start rating them: I can tell you enjoy wording them as much as I do hearing them…

                You roll your eyes backwards, a gesture the monster notices and maliciously giggles at… well, to be honest, everything he does looks or sounds malicious to you: even though this beast is as unpredictable and callous as ever, you are beginning to understand him more and more with each interaction… though you’d still kick him in the nuts if you knew you could get away with it. Same reason why you’re not running away, really: in the short span of time you’ve been here, you learned that often times you just have to stand your ground and listen to other people’s idiocy if you want to get what you want.

                *So, how’s my beautiful Queen enjoying the Underground?

                *Could use some more color: is red and black all you got, or do you keep the others tucked away for birthdays and stuff?

                *Nice one: I will give it a six… and a half. Though, I have to admit you are right: all these tints of red and black are starting to bore me as well… it’s a shame I have no clue of where to find or buy some new buckets of paint. Maybe you know a few?

                *You expect me to tell you something other than ‘no’, or was that a rhetorical question?

                *Ouch, I will have to give you a three on that one: that retort was so disgusting I do not even know where to start criticizing it…

                You did not know you could roll your eyes further back than they already did, but you do now. Fuck this guy. Mustering the composure to look at him in the eyes once more, you ask:

                *So, done with whatever you were doing?

                *Indeed, I am: all windows are barricaded, all doors are locked, and all the monsters within the building have been instructed not to bother you any more, else they want to end up like most of my attempts at writing literature… I am sure you do not mind that, no?

                *Oh, I’ll have no problem smashing through all that crap of yours later… but what about those monsters? Are you gonna lock ‘em in with us as well? Didn’t know you wanted voyeurs on your fucked-up honeymoon…

                Shrugging his shoulders like it’s no big deal, the uncaring monster simply replies:

                *Oh, them? They have their own ways to get out… I think. Though, I hardly see why they ever would: I leave them two whole floors of this palace to live in, and it’s much better in here than in the half-destroyed ruins down below. They are free to leave whenever they please, it’s their own choice to stay here with me.

                *Living with you? Willingly? Give me a break, you asshole…

                The monster’s grin increases tenfold as he leans forward to shorten the distance between your eyes. Giggling like a madman, he explains to you:

                *Well, at least they understand that between certain death and living with an ‘asshole’, the latter’s much more preferable to the former… and, as a human living in the Underground, I am sure you will learn that lesson soon enough, what with everyone wanting your soul and what not…

                *My what…?

                Asriel doesn’t answer, and instead begins walking away towards the exit, motioning to you to follow him: it’s clear he doesn’t feel the need to answer, much like you did earlier in the conversation. A shame, but as of now most of your thoughts still echo around survival and finding a way out: you can figure out the reasons behind the monsters’ desire to hurt you after you’ve left this horrible place.

                *Worry not, that’s of little concern to you: after all, now that me and you are finally together no-one will even get close to-

                The monster’s explanation is interrupted by a creaking noise on the other side of the room: a figure emerges from beyond the door, veiled in a worn-out red mantle and wearing a plain-looking mask with a long vertical cut in the middle that covers their whole face and leaves out only their bright, yellow eyes and red, untamed hair. At first, they seem surprised by your presence, but soon begin heading towards you in a resolved manner, producing a soft creak every time their old, white boots touch the ground below them.

                With a confused, angry look on his face, Asriel tells the intruder, barely holding together his rage:

                *And who are you supposed to be? A new exile? Doesn’t look like it… no… I bet you are just some random idiot commissioned by that old fool to do something really, really stupid…

                The creature keeps approaching, a light beginning to shine from within their cloak: the creature grabs it with one of their hands, wearing a glove that is also worn and white, and flashes it at you both… it’s a sword! Well, a rapier to be more precise… with the words ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ carved on the semi-spherical guard. Odd. But even more odd is that you can read them from all this way… you must have a really good eyesight, you figure out.

                Stepping forward, Asriel adds, unfazed:

                *I will give you three seconds to do the smart thing and turn around: if you are just looking to go down to The Forgotten Hamlet, there are other ways… but that’s not what you want now, is it?

                You are prepared to head on and fight them like you did with all your enemies beforehand, but Asriel immediately and calmly jumps ahead of you: he tells you that he will take care of this with a look filled with confidence, concern and, surprisingly, a faint tint of fear. You can only hope he’s going to be fine… actually, why should you? Fuck that guy, always thinking of you as a frail flower to be protected and toyed with and all… you really need to start showing less kindness in this world, or so you tell yourself: it seems that’s not a virtue that will lead you far in life, or far in the Underground for that matter.

                ( **The Selfless** \- <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWrCXVQOvRQ>)

                The two monsters suddenly lash out against one another, the unknown assailant employing their sharp rapier whilst Asriel uses his ability to seemingly create black fire out of nowhere: the veiled attacker starts lunging at him repeatedly with their blade, but the beast dodges their strikes almost effortlessly and counterattacks by casting fire from his hands with swift motions of his arms, throwing his crafted projectiles at his opponent with surprising accuracy but almost never hitting nevertheless. The swordsman is agile, more agile than Asriel himself even, and so most of the fires end up missing them and what few flames do land are quickly snuffed out as soon as they stick to the creature’s mantle.

                “That’s odd… is that clothing inflammable or something?”, you ponder, gnashing your teeth as you watch the battle unfold, “You’d expect a mantle like that to catch fire instantly, and yet… was it enchanted or modified somehow? Given how magic’s a thing that exists down here, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case… but that means…”

                *Die already, you stupid lackey!

                Asriel keeps throwing his flames at the enemy, even summoning large pillars of fire from the ground from time to time, but his opponent becomes faster and smarter by the minute, negating all of his planning and technique: it looks like they are slowly gaining confidence in their own invulnerability, their movements becoming more reckless as a result. It’s paying off: more and more often the blade grazes the monster’s clothes and sizes down his untamed white fur, until finally his right shoulder is pierced by the rapier, emerging on the other side covered in a gooey white substance… monster blood? It’s certainly different from the red liquid coursing in your veins, but Asriel’s scream is as loud as you expect your own would be if you were ever hit like that.

                As the masked assailant cowers back to prepare a new assault, your quick thinking activates: Asriel’s not going to win this battle, and he’s definitely not going to survive if you leave him to fend for himself. Your survival instinct tells you to turn around and start running, hoping for a way out of this mess… but you remind yourself that you still know very little of this world and of this very house, and that Asriel previously blocked all ways out: if you do try to escape, you’ll just enter another game of cat and mouse and there’s no guarantee this new monster will treat you better than Asriel… as disgusting as that sentence is; if you rush forward and try to make for the exit, it won’t be much different. You could try to side with the attacker, but they don’t really inspire you much confidence… if they wanted to help you, after all, they’d have already said so; but they said absolutely nothing, which makes you even more nervous. It seems there’s only one real option ahead of you, and it’s not one you like a whole lot; the good news is that at least, after looking at your surroundings, you have a half-baked plan in your head.

                You run forward right as Asriel falls to the floor, hit yet again by the rapier-wielding creature: the latter’s about to impale him with their blade when you suddenly yell:

                *Hey, you! Over here!

                The monster perks their eyes up just as you take off, kicking the creature right in the mask with both your legs and sending them stumbling backwards a few feet, while you land right on top of Asriel, increasing his pain and screaming immeasurably. As you get off of him and start checking him out of what little goodwill you have in your heart, you excuse yourself in the most sweet and polite voice you can muster:

                *Sorry! That was accidental, I swear!

                *Gah… fuck off, will ya? You are going to get killed… run while you can, you idiot…

                You ignore the monster’s pained wails and stand up, looking at the swordsman right in the eyes. The coward in you begs you one last time to run away, intimidated by the hatred in those small yellow eyes and by the sharpness of the rapier pointed straight at you, but the time for running has already ended. You get in a fighting stance and tell them, determined to win this battle for both your and Asriel’s sakes:

                *I don’t know who you think you are, but I don’t like you one bit. You want a real fight? How about you take on an opponent who can actually harm you, huh?

                You charge your enemy with your right fist already clenched, hitting the monster’s mask straight-on whilst dodging a stroke of their blade: they flinch, allowing you to hit them twice more in the chest before they can retreat to safety. Getting cocky, you push the offense once more, but this time the enemy’s ready and you narrowly miss a lunge meant for your eyes: you’re forced to jump backwards over and over again, always dodging the swordsman’s attacks to the best of your ability without ever having an opportunity to strike back… but that’s fine, your plan isn’t an all-out offense anyway.

                You suddenly strafe to the side and, since you caught the monster unprepared, kick them right in the hip with your boot, hurting them slightly but not stopping their onslaught: aside from a few opportunities to do some minor damage, taking advantage of the decent length of your legs and the toughness of your shoes, you’re once again repeatedly backed further into a corner, your every step bringing you closer to the wall behind you.

                With the final step of your plan looming closer and closer, you take a second to glance at Asriel: he’s recovered somewhat, having managed to get up on his feet not without some difficulties, and he’s currently observing you from a safe distance. He’s got a concerned look on his face, wondering what you’re trying to do or prove and hoping that you’ll make it out alive… but you can’t see any of that, and so you think nothing of it. Nevertheless, he’s standing right where you need him to, so you can return to your fight without a worry…

                …Wait, what’s this sudden, indescribable pain in your chest? You look down, screaming, only to see the monster’s sword lodged straight into your torso, right where you believe your heart is located… your vision begins to blur, your legs start to fail you: the swordsman’s gaze meets your own, and the look of victory and satisfaction on their face transcends the wall erected by the mask between you two. After all this running, after all this fighting… you… you…

                *I… I won…!

                The enemy’s eyes perk up upon hearing your boast, and their gaze suddenly shifts to the wall behind you: only now do they notice the frail rope that their blade accidentally hit, emerging from a hole in the wall and passing through a series of metal circles until it reaches the ceiling, leading to a large gold chandelier hanging on the top of the room. The chandelier is now on the verge of falling due to the damage the rapier’s stroke inflicted upon it, and it’s only a matter of seconds before the cable finally breaks and the piece of furniture comes crashing down to the ground: you have to act quickly, before you succumb to the pain.

                *Ka-Bam!

                You punch the enemy in the mask once more as strong as you can, shoving them back and causing them to pull the rapier out of your chest: it hurts even more now that it’s out, but at least now you can move. Without allowing the monster a second to recover, you run up to them and hit them again, again and again, over and over with a barrage of killer punches, yelling all the way through:

                *Ka-BaBaBaBaBaBa-Bam!

                With one last uppercut, the swordsman’s body is sent flying backwards, still clenching their agile blade, landing right below the chandelier: with an audible sound, the rope finally snaps behind you, sending the oversized piece of furniture crashing down on top of the creature with a loud bang. A huge cloud of dirt and dust spreads all over the room, causing you to start coughing uncontrollably; you are not sure whether the monster you were fighting survived, as visibility is now much poorer than before, but at least both you and Asriel are still alive.

                *Yeah, beat that, jackass! You came for my life, but you had another thing coming, you… you…

                You fall to your knees, your hands clenched around the wound on your torso, as an awful sensation starts running up your throat. You feel like vomiting, but you only manage to cough up more blood as you mutter your final words:

                *You… mother… fuck…

                You fall down to the ground, your eyes beginning to close on their own. You hear a sound, an incomprehensible voice, and you see a figure running towards you… but it’s too late now, and your eyes close one last time before anyone can do anything about it.

               

                _You walk through these old corridors like a scared puppy, wondering who’s going to beat her next. From behind a corner, another frog-like creature appears to torment you, shooting more fly-like bullets your way: the tears streaming from your eyes block your visual, and you’re inevitably hit… multiple times._

_You land on the ground, weak and gasping for air. The enemy keeps gazing at you from a distance, almost happy, as if this were all just a big game. Like your life isn’t worth all that much._

_Why aren’t you standing up? Why aren’t you fighting back? Do you really want to die that much?_

_“I-I can’t… not again… i-it feels so… w-wrong…”_

_So? It’s not like that monster cares about what you feel… and, in any case, your life is more important than your feelings._

_“But… I-I don’t wanna… I don’t wanna hurt him…”_

_But he wants to hurt you. And he won’t stop at anything to see you writhe in pain on the floor, begging for mercy, and ultimately receiving none. That flower already told you: in this world, it’s kill or be killed; there’s no way around it, you might as well accept it._

_“B-But…”_

_Frisk, I just want to help you. Really, I do… I want to help you do the right thing. I want to see you live._

_“I don’t… I-I don’t wanna die…”_

_So, if you don’t want to be killed… KILL!_

_And so, with my words echoing in your mind, you get up, run towards the monster attacking you, clench your stick harder than ever before, and finally swing it downwards: the branch lands right on the frog’s head, his eyes freezing solid for an instant as his body quickly decomposes into a pile of dust._

_…But you don’t stop there. You swing your weapon again, and again, and again, your eyes blinded by your fears and tears, your ears deafened by the hollow sound of the stick hitting the ground repeatedly, endlessly, hopelessly._

_You’re scared. You’re afraid. And, ultimately, you only want to go home… and I’ll happily bring you there, as long as you do what I say._

You briefly regain consciousness: your vision is still blurry, your ears are still not functioning properly and the pain in your chest has only gotten slightly better. You feel your body moving, but you’re not doing anything… are you being carried somewhere? By who? Asriel? The masked assailant? Someone else?

                You can’t say. All you know is that you’re really tired. Maybe… maybe another nap won’t be so bad after all…


	5. I Want To Break Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You recover from your short nap and find out more about the place you find yourself trapped in.  
> As Asriel shows you around his home, many questions needing an answer still plague your mind...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Smash Ultimate came out recently, so that's my excuse this time... it's a great game, what can I say?  
> Still, I wanted to this chapter to be even longer than it currently is. Unfortunately, I had to cut the last part due to time constraints... it was really fun too, and it was one of the reasons behind the explicit rating. Oh well, you'll just have to read it next chapter, coming next week.
> 
> Remember to leave comments at the end, and to have a good time reading!

 

                You wake up with a headache after who knows how long. You try to get up, but you’re still too weak to do so: right now, the only thing you manage to do is using your knees and elbows to raise yourself from the dirty ground beneath you. Your eyes are still adjusting to the light, but you can still see somewhat clearly the silhouette of something red and small looming over you.

                *Croak, Croak. (Oh, great… you’re alive. Everyone was kinda worried for a sec, but it seems you’re sturdier than we thought… much sturdier than the last one, for sure.)

                You turn to face the monster speaking to you and recognize it as one of the frog-like creatures from before. You’re not sure why you can understand what they’re saying, but right now the only thing you care about is that this monster hasn’t attacked you yet… a nice change of pace, for once.

                *Croak, Croak. (Everyone thought that, if you’d died, that Dreemurr guy would’ve punished us to feel better, so they sent me to investigate… it looks like everything’s fine though.)

                A small leathery bag is shoved towards you from underneath the toad’s belly, but you’re not sure how they pushed it given that they haven’t moved an inch ever since you started looking at them.

                *Croak, Croak. (Life sucks down here. Food’s scarce, so it’s all about survival… but if we take a human soul, like that Dreemurr did, we might be able to get out. Save ourselves, maybe even the others… but you’re too strong. Too nice as well, what with sparing our lives after beating us… none of us feel like bothering you again after that.)

                You look at the bag the monster handed to you and briefly look into it: inside is a sizeable amount of gold coins, each marked with the same insignia you’ve been seeing around ever since you first awoke in the Underground. You grab the bag, close it and put it inside a pocket within your jacket, not even realizing the words “Thank you” left your mouth while you weren’t checking: you got the Money Bag! Could come in useful later, if there’s any shopkeepers around willing to sell to you.

                *Croak, Croak. (It’s just a small gift from all of us… for not killing us and everything. Good luck dealing with Dreemurr, human: you’ll need plenty of it.)

                After muttering those last few words… or rather, those last few ribbits, the monster exits your field of view and disappears entirely from the room. As you get up and look at your surroundings, you ponder on some of the information the toad just gave you: it seems that the monsters attack you because they need your soul to survive, whatever that means… and that Asriel already took one for himself. Does he intend to take yours as well? Is that why he’s been acting the way he has with you so far? It’d certainly explain why he’s so overprotective of you… he doesn’t want anyone else to prevent him from adding you to his collection.

                Meanwhile, you observe your surroundings: you’re in a small, empty room like many others you’ve already seen in the palace, but unlike the others there’s green grass, small plants and colorful flowers growing all around you. The floor, the walls and even the ceiling are covered in greenery, making this place feel more like a garden than an actual room you’d find in a house… there’s also two doors, one of which seems to lead to a balcony of sorts: sadly, the door’s already been crudely sealed shut by plenty of wooden boards, undoubtedly the work of Asriel, but you can still see through the door’s small glass window a view of the city extending far below. It appears to be nighttime, given how few lights are still shining in the distance… how long have you been sleeping for?

                You turn around and begin heading towards the other door, which likely leads back inside, but before you can reach it the door gently opens on its own: Asriel’s head pokes out, visibly preoccupied, at first peeking at the ground where you were laying a moment ago, then, once he spots you, straight at you. He runs at you quickly as he attempts to hide a smile that randomly appeared on his face, beckoning the name you gave him in a way that you cannot decipher. When he reaches you, he puts his paw on your shoulder and tells you, both glad and sarcastic:

                *Well, look what we have here… my sleeping beauty already woke up, and I did not even have to kiss her! How do you feel on this lovely evening?

                You shove his hand off of you, retorting:

                *I’m doing fine…

                “Not thanks to you.”, you’d like to add, but you decide against it.

                *Well, that sure is a relief! Apologies for not leaving you on a fancier bed to sleep on, anyway: someone just had to run after that annoying swordsman and, well… I certainly could not leave the job up to you in your condition now, could I?

                You begin to remember the events that led to you falling unconscious: you were fighting an unknown assailant, and it all ended with them being utterly crushed under the weight of a chandelier… from the way Asriel’s talking, it appears their demise wasn’t as final as you thought it would be.

                *Let me get this straight: that guy, girl, whatever… they’re still alive?

                *Impressive, is it not? I thought they would have died instantly for sure under the weight of that ancient thing… but no, they somehow got out of it alive. They likely used the cloud of smoke created by the fall of the chandelier to escape, and left a trail of dust leading all the way to the exit: they are probably still out there somewhere, but they will not be able to bother us for a while in that condition…

                Well, that’s a relief: that fight was unlike anything you experienced so far in your admittedly brief time here in the Underground; you’re unsure whether you’re also glad that the monster attacking you survived or not, but… that’s a consideration that can wait until later. Did Asriel just mention an exit? So, there really is a way out of here… now that’s some good news!

                *Hold up: what’s this about an exit? I thought you’d blocked all the means out of here…

                *I knew you would inquire about that… you really are single-minded, my dear human. And here I thought you had begun to enjoy my company…

                *I’ll enjoy your company more as soon as you stop being a condescending, perverted bastard. Until then, sign me the fuck out.

                The monster sighs with closed eyes as he smiles complacent, unfazed by your attitude. Opening one of them, he asks you:

                *So, would you like to see the exit for yourself? We are quite close to it, after all…

                You blink repeatedly, dumbfounded. You thought that Asriel wanted to keep you locked within the mansion… now he wants to show you a way out? No, he probably just wants to show it so he can laugh as he shuts that one as well… but still, a way out is still a way out. If he locks it, you can likely force it open later: right now, you only care about finding it.

                *Sure, ain’t got plans for the next twenty years anyway. Lead the way.

                With a wide smirk printed on his face, the oversized goat grabs your hand and starts heading out the door with you right behind him: it seems like he doesn’t want you exploring on your own this time… understandable, after the mess caused by the arrival of that sword-wielding maniac. Asriel likely thinks that holding your hand as he shows you around is romantic, but you cannot help but feel it is a bit childish considering your age… and embarrassing, let’s not forget that one.

                Nevertheless, seeing as the monster won’t let you go no matter how hard you try to pull away, you cannot do anything but accept your role in this farce: you’re forced to go along as you disappear further into the palace, uncertain of where you are or where you’re going…

 

                *…And here we are! Home sweet home…

                You’re still inside the mansion, but this place feels like a house within a house. You’re currently in an antechamber of sorts, with a huge staircase in front of you leading somewhere dark; the colors red and black are everywhere you look, as usual, but unlike most other rooms in the palace this one, and the ones adjacent to it, are quite well-furnished. There’s bookstands, shelves, small tables with flower pots, cloth hangers with crappy jackets laying on them, and plenty of expensive-looking artworks hanging from the tidy and curated walls all around you… it’s like Asriel stole everything he needed from the other rooms of the castle and put them all here.

                *Splendid, is it not? This place used to be much emptier, but I have since filled it with furniture, trinkets and other valuables I ‘borrowed’ from the rest of the palace… I figured nobody would have complained, given how the whole complex belongs to me.

                ...Well, that was quick. You do not have the time to feel good about your deduction skills though, as the monster swiftly leads you to a room to the left of the entrance: it’s a living room of sorts, complete with a few sofas, an armchair, plenty of bookshelves, and all those things you can expect to find in such a room, like tables, rugs, curtains near the windows and so on. The entrance to what appears to be the kitchen can be seen on the other side of the room, right next to a corner, and Asriel heads in that direction after closing the door behind you with a key he likely held in his pockets.

                *Go on, make yourself comfortable! This is your home too, from now on… you really should get used to it.

                You briefly consider breaking down the door and escaping, but you figure that’s not really possible with Asriel being nearby and ready for it: for now, you accept your place and take a seat on one of the two sofas, spreading your arms on the back of the couch and crossing your legs in an attempt to look relaxed.

                You try to find a means to distract yourself, but you fail as the smell of something burning starts bogging you endlessly due to its proximity: at first you consider there being a fireplace in the room, but there doesn’t seem to be one nearby… instead, you trace back the smell to the charred remains of a book laying in a trash can in the corner of the room.

                “This must be what Asriel meant earlier when he mentioned his ‘failed attempts at literature’… well, now I know what he does to whoever, or whatever, he doesn’t like.”, you ponder as you attempt to clean all the ash from the book’s cover: many letters are missing, but you’re pretty sure you’re reading the words ‘Diary of Asriel Dreemurr’ right now… it’s a stretch, but you’re not sure how else to interpret the letters ‘ ia y o  A riel  ree  rr’.

                “Well, would you look at that! Asriel was so kind he even gave me something to read while I waited!” you gloat as you silently head back to the couch and start reading the first pages, careful that the inquisitive owner of that diary doesn’t come back when you least expect it.

                “ _Alright, here’s the deal: my Mom just bought me this thing because she thinks I could ‘use a means to vent from time to time’, and even bothered to label this a ‘Diary’ on the front page but let me be clear! This! Is! Not! A! Diary! Period. And screw you if you think this is! Actually, if you’re reading this… no, you know what? Nobody should read this aside from me! I bet that’s why Mom actually bought this: so she can find out everything she can’t discover by spying on me every few seconds… remember, Asriel! As soon as you’re done writing, hide this notebook you-know-where and, next time she asks, tell Mom that you lost it. If she buys you another one, just burn it when she’s not looking: Dad says I need to practice my fire magic more regularly anyway.”_

This is gold. Sadly, many of the following pages are irreparably damaged and not even you can read them in their current state, while others are flat out carbonized or missing. Asriel _really_ doesn’t want you to read this… which is exactly why you’re going to, one of these days. For now, you close the journal and hide it inside your internal pockets as well, away from that beast’s prying eyes: you got Asriel’s Diary! For when you’re feeling like having a laugh at his expense.

                Now, what to do next… sadly, there’s not much you can entertain yourself with. There’s plenty of books on the shelves all around you, but right now you don’t feel like reading any more than you already have. Slightly annoyed, you ask aloud:

                *Yo, Asriel! What are you doing over there in the kitchen?

                *Having a bath, my dear Queen! Seriously, what do you think I am doing in a kitchen?

                He has a point. That stings.

                *So, how long ‘till you’re done?

                *I am almost done, worry not… actually, do worry: your concern truly strokes my ego…

                You sigh as you ponder whether Asriel’s actually talking about his ego or… something else entirely. Nevertheless, even you can concur that you shouldn’t bother with him: you can figure out a way to have fun without relying on that self-important asshole.

                You get up and look around, trying to find something that is not too boring to look at, and finally settle on the only window in the room, this one also showing a view of the city down below: even though this must be the umpteenth time you saw it, the sight of such a big, desolated town is hard to look away from… it really puts you into perspective. How big is this hellhole you fell in? How bad is it, really? And, which is the fastest way out of it?

                *Fascinating, is it not? The old capital, once inhabited by the monsters that fled persecution at the hands of humans like you, now populated by the exiles that fled persecution at the hands of monsters… it’s funny: you wouldn’t believe it, but things were actually much, much better when the King those monsters ran away from was still in charge of The Forgotten Hamlet.

                You turn around: Asriel’s eyeing you from the sofa, a silver plate of yummy-looking sandwiches laying on a table between the two couches. He motions you to come sit next to him, but instead you rest your backside on the couch on the other side of the table; he pays it no mind, and instead continues his monologuing:

                *Of course, back then it had another name: we called it… ‘Home’. But that’s the past now… nowadays it’s just ‘The Forgotten’, for all of us who live in it have been forgotten, or wish to be forgotten, by those who we left behind: criminals, dissidents, refugees… all come to my doorstep downstairs, seeking a future away from the King’s all-seeing eye, and who am I to stop them? Though, it’s been a few years since anyone last arrived…

                You look into Asriel’s eyes, for once feeling like having an actual conversation with him. There’s plenty of things you want to ask, but first…

                *Speaking of… what about that monster from earlier?

                *Oh, that one? It must have been…

                *An assassin, right? I don’t know who they were, and I bet neither do you… but it’s pretty clear they came looking for your head.

                The monster raises an eyebrow, complacent.

                *You are quite smart, I will give you that… what gave that away?

                You begin eating a sandwich as you answer, not feeling like giving an hour-long explanation:

                *If they came here just to kill me, then what’s the point of the fireproof gear they were wearing? Last I checked, I couldn’t summon fire from my fingertips; you, on the other hand…

                Asriel sighs, defeated.

                *Indeed, that’s something I did not quite expect… seems like that coward did their homework, huh? Nevertheless, I am surprised by how quickly they switched gears and went for you when the opportunity arose: I suppose you offering to fight them in my stead turned you into the highest-priority target, and the promise of a free human soul is quite hard to pass on as well…

                You realize you have multiple topics of conversation ahead of you: you can chat about The Forgotten; you can discuss the reasons behind that assassin’s appearance; finally, you can have him explain why monsters are so interested in human souls.

                You decide to talk about the former.

                *So, how come the town down there looks so…

                *Broken? A few years of skirmishing and looting will do that to any city or nation, my dear: indeed, instead of turning it into the paradise that they wanted it to become, the monsters that sought refuge here made it their own little playground, a place without rules or ethics ruled by the strong and ruthless… much like where they came from, minus all the bureaucracy.

                You are temped to laugh at that last joke, but the fact that what you’re talking about is happening just a few blocks away makes you hesitate. You cannot help but feel some sort of pity towards the monsters living in the hamlet down below, even though you never met them… and despite the fact that they would likely try to kill you like the creatures from earlier given the opportunity. Still, you ask, concerned:

                *Shouldn’t you put a stop to all that? I remember you saying you were the ruler of this place, or something like that.

                Asriel shakes his head, shrugs his shoulders and raises his hands, communicating a sense of impotence.

                *I tried! Believe me, I had this place’s best intentions when I first arrived here: sadly, the idea of having the King’s son rule over them did not sit well with the townspeople, so they kindly told me to… well, to fuck off basically. At first I was quite dejected, but then I asked myself: why do I even care? If they want to live like animals, who am I to stop them? So I grabbed all my things, moved to my old family residence and let those savages do whatever they wanted… now, they only have themselves to blame for this mess.

                *Still, somebody should save them from themselves… you can’t just let them kill each other when you can do something about it!

                The malicious monster raises an eyebrow, his expression becoming colder and more serious in an instant.

                *Careful, human: you are getting dangerously close to giving me orders… and nobody can give me orders. Especially not a lowly human such as yourself, who’s only alive because I decided to spare her life.

                You decide to change the topic: you don’t feel like getting too confrontational right now, especially not on a topic like this one. You should save your energy and enthusiasm for later.

                You decide to talk about the assassin.

                *On an unrelated note: any reasons why anyone would send an assassin to kill you?

                *Oh, there’s plenty of them: you would think it would be someone from The Forgotten Hamlet to come and kill me, maybe blaming me for their misfortunes and what not, but I do not remember opening the door to any such swordsman in my life… which means they likely came from outside, using a key that they only could have gotten from my father.

                This time you’re the one to raise an eyebrow, dumbfounded.

                *You think your own father sent someone to murder you? What the hell did you do to him to think something like that, drove his car off a cliff or something?

                *As well as blew up his house, crapped all over his backyard and pissed on his grave… metaphorically speaking, of course. No, what I did was much, much worse than all the above… and it’s not something I feel like talking about, to you or anyone else. Nice try though!

                You roll your eyes backwards, annoyed by his sarcasm as well as by his insinuation that you only really asked that to get him to spew some gossip… you already have his diary for that.

                *Still, wanting to kill you? That’s pretty fucked up for any father, or parent in general…

                Asriel looks away and sighs, saddened.

                *And yet, I fail to see another explanation behind how they got in: the only way leading to the rest of the Underground necessitates a special key, after all, and there’s only two around to my knowledge… maybe they stole my father’s while he was not looking? Unlikely, but possible, I suppose.

                A new topic has been brought up: talking about the Underground. You decide to approach this new subject with an open mind.

                *So, what’s this about ‘the rest of the Underground’? Is there more to this place that I haven’t seen yet?

                “Please say no, please say no, please say no…”

                *Of course there is, my dear! What, you though The Forgotten was the only obstacle standing between you and freedom? How cute…

                “Fuck!”; still, maybe not all hope is lost. You decide to inquire further.

                *So, the exit from The Forgotten leads to the rest of the Underground, right?

                *Correct.

                *And what about the exit from the Underground? Is there even such a thing?

                You understand there’s no reason why Asriel would ever answer such a question, but you decide to ask it nevertheless: surprisingly, the white monster winks at you as he tells you exactly what you wanted to know:

                *At the end of the Underground, yes, there is an exit… and it leads to the Surface, the world of humans. However, before you can get your hopes up, know that there’s literally no means for you to get past there.

                You narrow your eyes, unsurprised by this turn of events.

                *Why, because you’re not gonna let me through?

                *That, and because there’s a magical barrier blocking passage between the two worlds: a courtesy of you humans, by the way… thanks to that, we are all stuck down here. You, me, and every monster in the Underground… centuries of confinement and insolation truly worked wonders on all of us, do you not agree?

                That is… disheartening, to say the least.

                *Is there really no way through it?

                *Technically, yes: you would need to absorb a monster soul to get past the barrier, as the minimum requirement is a monster soul and a human soul in a single body… but monster souls are quite fragile and shatter instantly upon death, so you would never be able to acquire one even if you tried. On the other hand, you need only die for a monster to claim your soul as his own… which would allow them to get past the barrier and likely wreak havoc on humanity. A fitting fate for your race, but I doubt you will agree.

                All this talk about souls and what not seems to lead perfectly into the last thing you want to discuss. You take a deep breath before beginning, resolved:

                *So, is that why you are keeping me locked in here? To ‘protect’ me from the rest of the Underground?

                Asriel looks at you estranged for a second, but then swiftly answers:

                *You make it sound nobler than it really is, but yes. Your life is quite important to me, which is why I took all necessary precautions to make sure it will continue… for as long as I see fit.

                “Bullshit. I know what you really want.”

                *Oh, really? So selfless of you… are you sure you don’t want others to take my soul because what you really want is to take it for yourself, like you’ve already done with the human who came before me!?

                He raises an eyebrow, an indecipherable expression on his face. The tone of his voice slows down considerably, turning serious all of a sudden as he inquires:

                *…Who told you that?

                *Does it matter? See, you’re not even denying it!

                Asriel smiles. He spreads his arms to look more relaxed, shaking his head in denial.

                *Now, now, I think you’re misunderstanding me. I can assure you that I have no interests in killing you, no matter how appealing it may be at times… the fact is, killing a human is one of those things you only ever need to do once in life, if you know what I am saying.

                Before you can say anything, Asriel’s expression morphs into something you never saw before: a truly demented grin, his red eyes looking into his hands like he was reliving a dream, his very voice twisting into that of a madman locked all his life in an asylum for the demented.

                *Now, did I kill a human a long time ago? Yes. Did I smile as I plunged a sharp knife deep into his heart, watching his every last move frame by frame from up close? Sure. Did he scream in pain, tears flowing out of his eyes as blood gushed from the open wound on their chest, while people all around cheered and the knife pierced deeper into his body? Absolutely. You’d think killing a human would be a thrilling experience, something that every monster would perform over and over again in a heartbeat…

                He stops all of a sudden, incapable of describing the scene in such a way any longer without further hurting his psyche. He turns to you with a hopeless look on his face, his eyes filled with despair: you never saw him reduced to such a pitiable state, and you cannot help but feel sorry for him as he tells you:

                *…But I did not enjoy a second of it. Dispensing pain, misery, despair and even death is all good and dandy, as long as you are not coerced into doing it. When you are, it just feels… miserable; like that human who died by my hand, whose soul I still harbor within my body: miserable until the very end. I just wanted a friend, a real friend, and now I have a corpse and a soul instead… this world’s truly an unforgiving place, is it not?

                Asriel pauses for a second, clutching his head between his hands. You are tempted to approach him and console him, but before you can do that he wakes up from his trance and approaches you himself, shoving the table between you out of the way with little effort: he looms over you, gripping the pillows next to you angrily with a crazed look on his face.

                *Make no mistake: other monsters may only be interested in your soul, but I am interested solely in you… and your body. I may insult you, shove you, grab you, hit you, cut you, do all sorts of things to you… but I will never kill you. Oh, no… you and I, we will be friends for a long time, for the longest time in fact. We will have a great time, my dear Queen… the greatest.

                He raises his head, cracks his knuckles and heads towards the door, unlocking it with the same key from earlier as he tells you, trying to sound a little happier:

                *Now then, how about I show you the rest of the house? It’s not very big, but you will be spending your whole life here so the last thing I want is for you to get lost in it…

                Now it’s official: you need to get out of here. Staying in a place like this with someone as mentally disturbed as Asriel and with cold-blooded killers literally everywhere around you is impossible to manage. You don’t care that there’s only a slim chance that you can get out, you don’t care that you’ll need to traverse the entirety of the Underground on your own, you don’t care that you’ll have to figure out a way to get past this ‘barrier’ Asriel mentioned: you need to get out, and so you will.

                *Fine, show me around boss.

                For now though, you really can’t do anything but accept Asriel’s invitation and go on a house tour with him, your hand in his as if you were kindergarten friends: the time to break out will come soon enough… you only need to wait for the right moment.


	6. Hot Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few 'intimate' encounters with yourself and with Asriel, you're left confused and unsure.  
> Will you be able to plan an escape even in such a mind state, or will you lack the confidence to make your move?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies once again for the delay, though this time it's not my main concern: mainly, the length is. This was, like... nine word pages with the default font size: that is way longer than I wanted any chapter to be, mainly because the longer the chapter, the higher the likelihood of making mistakes or saying dumb or unnecessary stuff... which most likely happened, especially near the end I'm afraid. If you have any concerns about such things, please do voice them in the comments below: I do plan on reviewing all chapters so far during the winter break, mostly to address some stylistic choices including the music (to set the mood for later chapters) and the dialogues' fonts (which I plan on changing between each character to differentiate them and reduce the confusion in the later arcs).
> 
> By the way, can I just say this is the smuttiest chapter I've ever written in my life? No joke. I've never written anything explicit before, so this chapter was quite... odd to write, for me at least. Maybe I should've been more explicit and gone more in-depth, maybe I shouldn't have: either way, I think it'll be a long while until we get a chapter like this again... thankfully, if I may add. Smut is fine and all, but I'm here for the action! The drama! The shitty one-liners! And we'll get plenty of them, starting next chapter.
> 
> For now, enjoy!

                Asriel lets you, or rather forces you, to tour his living quarters: they’re quite small, especially when compared to the rest of the building they’re located in, but the amount of stuff he stole from his own palace to decorate them makes all the rooms seem bigger than they really are.

                For example, his bedroom: it’s just a large, red and black king-sized bed with two wooden drawers at the sides, a couple of crappy-looking lamps and a whole lot of old candles on the walls, but it still feels huge compared to all the empty rooms you traversed to make it this far. The furniture, for the most part at least, is unfortunately of very poor quality all around: you’re not sure whether this is due to Asriel’s poor tastes or because of a general lack of higher-quality products, but since he probably wouldn’t react well you decide not to ask.

                A pressing sensation in your lower regions forces you, at some point, to ask a very simple, yet highly embarrassing question:

                *By the way, where’s the bathroom?

                Asriel looks at you for a second, smiling at you evilly.

                *Oh, is my poor Queen in dire need of relief? I suppose I should give it to you, yes… but first I need to hear something from you.

                *Oh my God, you really want me to beg you to piss!?

                He shakes his head while chuckling, entertained by your sentence.

                *Actually, I just want to hear you say ‘please’: it’s a matter of manners, you know…?

                *Please…

                *Good. Now, do it while on your knees.

                *Asriel…!

                His chuckle becomes flat out laughter, but it only lasts a second: to stop you from hitting him in the face, he’s forced to admit:

                *I am kidding, I am kidding… you can find the restrooms at the end of the corridor. It’s that door on the left, see?

                You’re already sprinting in the direction Asriel pointed towards before he even finished his explanation: you swiftly open the door he mentioned and shut yourself inside the room, hoping to find a key to close the door with; sadly, you find none. Well, hopefully Asriel will have the decency to not enter while you’re busy: after all, half the reason why you came here so quickly was to get away from that maniac for a minute or two.

                You take a long breath as you take a look around the room, surprised by its cleanness: both the walls, the floor and all the furniture around you is surprisingly hygienic and sparkling, which either means that Asriel has a thing for bathrooms or he just doesn’t use them very often. There’s a big shower right next to the door, the ‘dirtiest’ thing in the room, but also a toilet, a wash basin and a whole lot of shelves and drawers filled with a copious amount of toothbrushes, toothpastes, toothpicks, dental flosses, mouthwashes, and so much more: you figure out that, with a mouth as big and toothy as his, Asriel likely needs a hell of a lot of stuff to keep it clean; that, or he just wants to impress you whenever he opens his mouth… in which case, he definitely failed. There’s also shampoos, gels, scissors… a whole drawer labelled ‘For Fur’… you know what, let’s stop right here.

                There’s a large mirror right before the washbasin, which you decide to approach before using the toilet: you take a good look at your long, beautiful auburn locks resting gently on your shoulders, then gaze upon your small nose, your soft lips, your… ‘generous’ breasts, peeking from a small gap in your shirt. Finally, you look straight into your eyes, your warm amber eyes… which don’t feel like your own.

                “This… this isn’t me…”, you tell yourself, touching your skin repeatedly as if to convince yourself that this is just a dream, “Why am I like this…? This… this can’t be who I really am…”

                You’re not sure why you feel this way. You have no reason to dislike your body: objectively, you’re very beautiful and pretty, but for some reason all this beauty feels… foreign, in a way. There is no way for you to understand the reason behind this sensation, however, and so you’re forced to get away from the mirror with more questions than answers and an awful feeling stuck in the back of your mind… maybe you should keep away from mirrors from now on.

                Hoping to distract yourself from this new discomfort, you finally approach the toilet, already lowering your tight trousers: however, as soon as everything’s done and your panties are off, you see… ‘it’.

                You start screaming, and you swiftly cover your mouth to stop yourself from making a scene: still, nothing could’ve prepared you from seeing something like ‘that’ attached to your crotch… and it seems fully functioning as well. Did you always have it, and just never noticed? Sure seems like it… you go on and touch it just to be sure, and to your annoyance you discover it is, unfortunately _not_ a figment of your hyperactive imagination. Your instinct convinces your hand to slip a little lower, just to make sure: a moment later, your fingers are hovering over a small opening in your skin that feels slightly more normal than the object of your distress… well, this is awkward.

                “Still, what the fuck man!? What the hell am I supposed to think… am I a boy, or a girl!? The slit and the tits say girl, but the prick and balls say boy… goddammit, where’s professor Oak when you need him!?”

                As you lay hypnotized by the foreign member dangling before your eyes, already forgetting your out-of-character remark from earlier, the door suddenly slams open:

                *I heard a scream, and I have yet to nail you! What’s going…

                The monster’s gaze quickly turns to face your nether region, his eyes widening in disbelief as a red mist spreads over his cheeks. He looks at it for a while, then back at you, then back at yourself; then, with a shit-eating grin on his face, he simply says, amused:

                *Nice…

                Before he can say anything else, you start screaming at the top of your lungs, ignoring the backhanded compliments the pervert’s likely forwarding to you, while covering your genitals to the best of your ability, still not leaving much to the imagination. Faster than lightning, you pull up your pants, sucker punch the monster in the gut, throw him out the room as if he were a bag of potatoes and shut the door, blocking it with your body in desperation: you still haven’t emptied your bladder, but _God_ if that’s not the last of your worries right now…

 

                You and Asriel are laying in his king-sized bed, much less naked than he’d like. The door to the room’s locked, so now you’re stuck with him in the last place you wanted to… great. Thankfully, right now you’re both busy staring at the ceiling, too embarrassed about what happened earlier to say or do anything… seems like you finally have a moment to rest after all; not how you imagined it, but who are you to nitpick.

                You’ve went to bed with the same clothes you’ve been wearing all day (Asriel offered to give you a few spare ones he had, but you ‘politely’ declined) while Asriel’s taken the… ‘liberty’ of taking off his jacket and sweater, exposing his bare torso for you to glance at every couple of seconds… not that you’re really interested or anything like that. I mean, sure, he’s got a nice physique and all, but… you know what, let’s just end the thought right here.

                Suddenly, the monster interrupts the silence by telling you, not feeling even slightly awkward:

                *Well, how was the bathroom? Shiny, was it not?

                You squint at him, only to see that he’s also squinting at you with a big grin on his face. You take a deep breath as you gaze once more upon the immaculate ceiling, readying yourself for whatever dumb shit he’s going to spout next.

                *Now, I have to admit: it was quite rude of me to barge into the room so senselessly like that, and you have all the reasons to despise me because of it… still, no matter what I did, I just want you to know that I frankly do not care about all the things I saw. For real, it’s completely fine if your anatomy is… a little more complex than usual: you have my word that I will not think any less of you because of it…

                *Shut up…

                *Seriously, I am not even jealous. Though I am a bit surprised since, you know… it _is_ bigger than mine…

                *Oh my God, shut up!

                You get on your knees, grab your pillow and use it to strike the monster right on the nose, inciting no reaction from him but a faint giggle. With the straightest face he can muster, barely suppressing his laughter, Asriel then confidently looks at you and adds:

                *In my opinion, the dick only makes it hotter.

                You don’t even say anything this time: you just keep hitting the oversized goat with the pillow over and over again, inflicting no damage whatsoever and only increasing your rage tenfold. The perverted beast laughs as he’s smacked repeatedly by your makeshift weapon without end, amused by his own sentence and by your admittedly laughable reaction: it’s weird, but you feel like, for once, you’re both having… fun?

                In the end, you cannot help but collapse right on top of the most annoying monster in the Underground, gasping for air: you really should’ve stretched a bit before waving that thing around like a maniac. In response, Asriel’s expression unexpectedly softens a little; he starts patting your head soothingly, telling you:

                *You really are a poor, helpless little thing, huh? Pretty too, if I may say so myself…

                You are not sure about the ‘poor’ and ‘helpless’, but it feels nice to be called ‘pretty’ in such a genuine tone. Calming, even. In this state of near bliss, you turn your head to view the monster’s face… and, in the process, see something else that catches your attention.

                *Yo, uh… when did you get this huge-ass scar?

                You eye Asriel’s torso, divided as it is by a long wound that appears to be as deep and old as time itself. The mark cuts right through the monster’s chest, vertically dividing it in two almost too symmetrically… it unnerves you, for some reason, and yet you cannot bring yourself to avert your eyes.

                *Oh, that? Huh… never noticed that before. Must have been the work of that annoying hitman from earlier.

                You point at the monster’s still half-open wound in his shoulder with your index finger, which is completely unlike the one you’re talking about.

                *No, that’s not it. That wound is due to that monster’s rapier… but this scar, it looks older than today. Way older. On top of being completely unlike anything a rapier would leave… it’s like someone cut you in half with a sword, or…

                You reflect on this thought for a little while, and figure something out.

                *Come to think of it, all the monsters I encountered earlier had a scar like that somewhere on their bodies too. All of ‘em. Is it, like… a custom of yours or something? Like a ritual, or something like that?

                The monster shakes his head, annoyed. He puts one of his hands to comfort it, as if he was suffering from a headache.

                *No, we have no traditions that involve physical scarring, unfortunately… though, since this conversation’s starting to bore me, how about we begin to make one ourselves?

                You are taken off-guard as Asriel grabs your arms and spins you around, ending up on top of you after a brief, ineffective struggle: you really shouldn’t have gotten so comfortable around him, but why would you follow your own advice and not get too close to this maniac. Still, as he pins you down to the mattress, you cannot help but bite your lip with an… ‘odd’ look on your face as you stare into Asriel’s malevolent eyes, his perverted smile growing bigger by the second.

                *Oh, the things I would love to do to you tonight… seeing you fall into my arms like this really puts me in the mood, you know? In the mood to play with you the way I once used to, so many years ago… I bet you would enjoy that, too.

                You can’t move a muscle, but you’re not sure you want to: the look in your eyes is defiant at first glance, but even he should be able to pick up… something else in your gaze. Something I can’t quite describe. You’re ready for anything, ready to fight to your last breath and to endure the worst, or so I hope… and yet, after a while of boldly looking at him right in his cold, mad eyes, he lets you go and throws himself back onto the spot he took earlier, saying:

                *…Is what I would say if this wound in my shoulder did not sting so bad: seriously, that fight from earlier left quite a few bruises on my body… far more than I am comfortable with. I am afraid I will have to refrain from moving too much for the next few days, which is a real bummer, do you not think so?

                You get up and size Asriel up from head to toe, visibly disappointed.

                *…You’re a real cockblock, you know that right?

                The monster is at first surprised by your retort, then visibly flustered; he quickly hides it behind a hearty laugh though, as he tells you:

                *Oh, dear… first you act all stoic, then you just… say stuff like that, with no hesitation whatsoever? My, my…

                *What!? No! I was just pointing out how you’re always like ‘Oh, I’m gonna cut you! I’m gonna kill you! I’m gonna fuck you!’, and then you just… fucking let go, like it’s all just a big joke. When are you gonna stop acting dumb and begin giving me a reason to be afraid for real? ‘Cuz right now you ain’t doin’ a real good job at that.

                The monster keeps laughing, for once not bothered by your insults. After some time, even he stops chuckling and slides under the bed sheets, as you soon do yourself: Asriel yawns, quite tired, before finally telling you:

                *It’s been a long day, and we are both exhausted. Let’s save some energy for tomorrow, alright? Then, we can have all the fun we want, me and you both… but especially me.

                You wait patiently for him to say something else, but he never speaks another word; it’s too dark to be certain, but you’re pretty sure he’s already sleeping. You turn your eyes towards the door on the other side of the room, locked and secure: you remind yourself of the real reason why you’re playing along with Asriel, so you can find a way out when he least expects it… sadly, the key for that door lies in the monster’s trousers, which he’s still wearing as of now. Attempting an escape right now would be suicide, so you decide to go to sleep and try again another time: hopefully next morning… assuming you can last that long.

                Nevertheless, the time for thinking is over. You finally close your eyes, hug the pillow like it’s a lifebelt and sink into a deep sleep…

 

_The knife plunges deep into her skin. A faint scream pierces the silence but, after that, the corridor feels as quiet and as empty as when you first entered it. You take a few steps back, still uncertain, but upon seeing the monster’s face, her expression, the depth of the wound you inflicted upon her, you fall onto your backside, paralyzed. That look in her eyes… it shakes you to the core._

_*Y… You… you really hate me that much?_

_Her body begins to dissolve before your very eyes, slowly but surely. She clutches her chest, falling to her knees in a pitiable attempt at staying alive. Pointless._

_*Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you… but them!_

_In an instant, the creature blocking your escape disintegrates into nothing but ash and dust, her very soul shattering in a million pieces before your eyes. It is done._

_*What… what have I done…?_

_What you needed to. What you had to. That old hag had it coming: she’s the one who attacked you, she’s the one who wouldn’t let you leave. She only got what she deserved._

_*But she… she wasn’t evil… she was the only one who was nice with me…_

_Just because someone feigns to be nice once or twice doesn’t mean anything. She might have helped you a few times, even told you what you wanted to hear, but she was willing to do anything to trap you here with her. That’s not very nice, don’t you agree? Me, on the other hand… have I ever hurt you, ever since we first met? Have I ever deceived you?_

_*N-No…_

_Good. Then we’re done here. Let’s go, partner._

_*…_

_…Is something the matter?_

_*I can’t. I can’t do this._

_…Are you serious? Are you really going to do this every time you’re forced to defend yourself?_

_*I just… I can’t keep this up. Every time I kill someone, it… it doesn’t feel right. No, it feels… awful… dreadful… horrible… is freedom really worth all this death and suffering?_

_If you think it’s not, then you don’t need me after all. Go brave the Underground on your own, Frisk: I’m done helping someone who doubts everything I say…_

_*N-No! P-Please… don’t leave me alone…_

_Then what do you want from me? What do you need, if my advice is not enough?_

_*…I need… I need you to guide me… because I don’t know what to do…_

_Oh, that’s easy. That’s quite easy, indeed. You want me to guide you, huh? I can manage that… you need only do one thing for me._

_*…_

_Call me. Now, and forever… call my name, and I’ll be there. To help you do what you cannot do alone._

_The smell of dust invades your nostrils, fills your lungs, shakes your very body to the core. You clutch the toy knife in your hand, and a piece of that monster’s remains that flew nearby with the other. Ready, willing, determined, you finally speak into the shadows within your mind:_

_*Your… name… is…_

                *queen…

                You abruptly wake up, your face drenched in sweat. You stand perfectly still for who knows how long, your eyes wide open and yet unable to see anything… or rather, incapable of focusing on what you’re seeing anyway; instead, you focus on your heartbeat, slowing down little by little in your chest. You realize there’s something laying on top of your breasts, where your heart is located: Asriel’s paw, laying on top of you motionless. You figure out that you should be thankful this is all he bothered to do with your body while you were sleeping… it definitely could have gone a lot worse, you figure.

                *hello… are you awake…?

                You quickly realize, as weariness begins to fade and your consciousness returns, that the room’s slightly brighter than earlier in the night, when both you and the monster still sleeping next to you went to bed: you’re not sure, but it’s likely due to the bright red ghost standing, or rather floating, a few feet above you, looking down on you with its now familiar, sad expression.

                *You? What are you doing here?

                The ghost you encountered earlier in the mansion looks just the same as before, though maybe that’s just your fatigue talking. He _does_ look a bit better though, at least compared to last time.

                *oh, sorry… i just wanted to tell you something… but i came at the wrong time it seems… i always do that… i’m sorry… maybe i should just leave…

                Trying not to raise your voice, you whisper to him, desperate:

                *No! No, no, no… don’t you dare leave me here with this maniac! Come down here and help me, goddammit!

                The ghost floats closer to you, visibly unsure of how to aid you in such a situation. Seeing as though he’s not really saying anything, you add:

                *Can’t you get his arm off of me? Possibly without waking him up?

                *my body’s quite cold… i could move him… but he’d definitely feel it… and i’m not sure you’d want that…

                You sigh, annoyed upon learning this new information. If this ghost had helped you and Asriel’d woken up, at least you’d know who to pin the blame on… but now, it seems like it’s all on you if you fail. Do you really want to do this, right now?

                …Yeah, you do: fuck this guy, you’re breaking out tonight. With all the delicacy you can muster, you grab Asriel’s paw with your hand and gently move it to the side, laying it on the mattress. Your heart nearly freezes solid when the monster suddenly begins moving under the sheets, producing weird, undiscernible sounds with his mouth as he shuffles around, but thankfully he stops right away as he turns sideways and returns to sleep, unaware of your actions or intentions.

                Once again on edge, you silently peel off the sheets laying over you and get up, thankfully without producing much noise. With the helpful ghost’s help, you find your boots untidily placed on the ground next to the bed, hastily put them on and then approach the door blocking the way, the bodiless monster quietly illuminating the way.

                “Okay, what now…”

                You try to open the door, but it’s unsurprisingly locked. You remember that Asriel put his key within a pocket in his trousers, most likely in preparation for this very moment: if you try to grab it now, he’ll most likely feel your hand sliding in his pants… and he won’t like that one bit, you fear. “Unless I suddenly aim for something else at the last moment.”, you joke… stop it.

                *Hey, do you think you can grab that guy’s key? It’s inside his trousers, I can’t get it myself.

                *i could… but he might feel that too… i’m really cold to the touch you know… what if i just try to open the door myself…?

                You blink twice, surprised by that question.

                *…You can?

                *sure… if i can move people and objects around… i should be able to work with a lock too…

                The ghost floats onwards, sliding right next to the door… and then, passing right through it. He stands still for a while, his body half on one side of the door and half on the other, working his magic as a weak creaking sound comes from somewhere within the keyhole… until, finally, it stops with a ‘clack’. The ghost finishes phasing through to the other side and you follow suit, excited, as you get past the obstacle and finally close the door behind you, as quiet as you can be.

                As soon as you’re outside the bedroom, you turn to face the ghost, who’s looking at you uncertain. You realize you’ve yet to greet him or thank him, since you didn’t really meet in the most calm of circumstances… still, you decide to rectify that as you tell him:

                *Hey, uh… thanks for helping me, uh…

                “…Fuck, what was this guy’s name again!?”

                *Uh… I wanna say, Dave? You strike me as a Dave, anyway.

                *it’s napstablook… but it’s fine… i didn’t tell you my name earlier anyway… close guess though…

                You cough a few times out of nervousness, trying to hide from your helper how awkward you’re feeling right now. Trying to change the topic, you ask him:

                *So, uh… how did you find out my name?

                *i heard it from the other monsters in the forgotten… dunno where they learned it though… maybe from that guy you’re trying to escape…

                *Yeah, huh… not exactly a guy I’d live happily ever after with, if you catch my drift.

                The ghost’s unsure of expression hasn’t changed a bit ever since you began talking, and you’re not sure why.

                *are you sure you want to get out though…?

                *W-What? Of course I do! No offense, but I’d gladly do without all the murderous psychopaths hanging around this place!

                *but that’s the thing… the underground is full of monsters like that… at least he doesn’t want to hurt you too bad… the others won’t be so nice if you leave…

                You stand silent for a while, unsure of what to think. If he’s really telling the truth, you consider, is escaping this place really worth it? Is your hope, your dream worth running from the frying pan into the fire?

                *…Sure. I can deal with that. If I could deal with someone like Asriel for this long, everyone else will be a piece of cake, guaranteed.

                *okay… if you say so…

                You both begin heading down the corridor, making as little noise as possible. The stairs leading to the exit should be in the main hall, but without the ghost illuminating the path you wouldn’t be able to tell left from right in this place.

                *So, you wanted to ask me something?

                *oh… well… i just wanted to tell you that… i talked to my cousin after all…

                You remember the ghost talking about something like that during your encounter earlier in the day but can’t recall what you spoke of exactly. Hoping not too look too embarrassed or stupid, you try to keep the conversation going without going too much into detail yourself:

                *Oh, neat! What did you, uh… say to him?

                *i told him that i wanted to accept his offer… like you told me to… and he said that he loved my answer… that he’d hoped to hear that from me for a while… that he was happy…

                *Sweet! Good job, uh…

                *napstablook… but you don’t have to congratulate me… i should be the one to thank you… i would’ve never even talked to him if you hadn’t encouraged me earlier… that’s why i came to bother you… to tell you that i’m thankful… i’m sorry…

                *What!? No, dude… that was all you. You’re stronger than you think you are… plus you helped me bust out of that room, so I should be the one thanking you. So, thanks, spooky guy… you’re a real friend, you know what?

                You can’t tell since… well, since he’s a ghost, but you’re pretty sure the ghost’s blushing right now. Kinda. Maybe? Well, he’s acting like he is anyway, so you might as well pretend he is.

                You make it to the entrance, next to the stairs leading further down into the abyss. This place looks much scarier at night, when there are no lights on… or maybe it’s just the weird glow produced by the ghost’s ‘body’ that is twisting the furniture’s shadows in such an odd way; nevertheless, now more than ever you feel like this is a place you absolutely cannot remain in for long, else you end up like that human who preceded you.

                *Well, I guess this is it. Thanks for everything, dude, and good luck with whatever you’re planning with your cousin.

                The uncertain ghost keeps looking at you for a while, pondering something, but his expression swiftly turns to a much happier one as he tells you, glad:

                *thanks to you too… good luck… friend…

                And with that, Dave, or whatever his name was, phases through the ceiling, leaving you alone once more. “It’s kinda sad, actually…”, you wonder, “But maybe it’s for the best. Well, time to head downstairs and see where…”

                A loud blast suddenly obliterates the silence in the air, followed by a familiar sound of burning: you turn around, only to see a large black flame floating in the air in the middle of the hallway you just came from. Fast footsteps follow suit, headed directly to your location… seems like Asriel finally woke up.

                You should run down the stairs while you can, and hope to… or, you can just hide behind the door to the living room, I guess. You close it gently behind you, hoping that the monster pursuing you did not see or hear you, and then tug the wall right next to the entrance: you could use the door’s keyhole to spy on the main hall, you realize, but your fear of Asriel somehow seeing your eye peeking through the hole proves too strong, and so you refrain from doing so.

                Meanwhile, the noise of footsteps and burning has come closer and closer, until it finally stopped. He’s likely in front of the door leading to the rest of the palace, wondering where you’re hiding… funny, that’s actually more frightening than when he was making all that noise. After a while of idling about, the footsteps resume, but this time they are not coming closer to you: rather, they are getting further and further away from you… he’s heading downstairs.

                “Maybe hiding here was smart after all…”, you briefly consider, before realizing “Oh, fuck: now where the Hell am I supposed to go!?”

                There is only one answer to that question, and you don’t like it one bit: as you slowly open the door and return to the main hall, you realize you can now see the staircase much more clearly… or rather, you can imagine it much more clearly. An endless pit of death and darkness, waiting patiently for the moment you’ll step foot in it… and you will step foot in it, alright.

                “I’ve come so far, I can’t turn back now.”, you tell yourself as you grab the handrail with all the strength and confidence you can muster and begin making the first few steps into the unknown, “I’ll see this through, one way or another… even if it means I’ll have to confront that son of a bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, there's always been discussion on Frisk's gender in this community: some say they're a boy, some that they're a girl, others that they're non-binary, genderfuild, or whatever... most just like to think they have no gender whatsoever. My solution? They're both. Problem solved, everyone can go home now. =3


	7. Through The Fire And Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what seems like an eternity, you're finally ready to face off against Asriel.  
> The battle that is about to ensue will be about more than just strength and skill... do you have what it takes to win it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took way longer to finish than I expected! It's much longer than I hoped, too: over twelve pages, around three times the length I hoped each chapter would be around. Still, I wanted to begin my holiday hiatus on a high note, and so I stuffed this chapter full with everything I wanted to include before beginning 'The Frozen' arc. Hopefully you'll enjoy this little Christmas present from me to you... even though I'm not too satisfied with it myself, due to my own really high quality standards. TwT
> 
> And about my hiatus: I will be gone until the 7th to focus on my book, so no updates until the week afterwards. After that, school will resume and I will pump out a chapter every week until the end of the next arc; after 'The Frozen' arc ends, I will have to begin focusing on studying for the finals, so there will be whole months of inactivity I am afraid. However, it's too early to start worrying about that, so let's focus on this chapter right here!
> 
> Enjoy! =3

                Your every step into the unknown resounds all around you despite your best attempts at remaining silent, turning your likelihood of ambushing Asriel from zero to even lower than that: no matter how hard you try, the sound keeps bouncing off of the ruined and unkept walls around you as if it were a beach ball.

                The hallway you’re traversing is as dark as it is endless: you can’t tell where you’re going or even how you’re getting there, you can only move forward and pray that you don’t end up bumping into walls or… who knows what. There are… torches, you assume, sporadically hanging from the walls, but none of them are burning much to your dismay. A white trail of… something leads further into the dark, guiding you towards what you hope to be your destination: this must be what Asriel mentioned earlier when he told you of that assassin’s escape… if your intuition is right, it should lead you to the exit, and hopefully not simply to that monster’s remains.

                “You’d think Asriel would’ve lit the way by now, but nope… he just had to make reaching him that much more difficult, huh?”, you ask yourself, unamused.

                You try to keep your eyes open and your mind focused, but you can’t help but think of the task you’ve set up for yourself: instead of turning back and planning your escape another time, you’re forcing yourself to confront and possibly fight a monster you aren’t prepared for in the cold, narrow confines of this long corridor, with nothing but your ego and your fists backing you up… any sane person out there would have quit by now, but you seem bent on persevering regardless. You’re not sure whether that makes you courageous or just plain dumb.

                Eventually, you turn a corner and reach your destination: a huge, finely decorated door, so big it could be mistaken for a wall, standing at around a hundred feet ahead of you, inviting you to come closer. The exit from this God-forsaken place is covered by what appears to be runes or graffiti of some kind, illuminating the way forward with a gloomy red light.

                Suddenly, the room becomes as clear as day: dozens of torches light up all around you at once with a vigorous crackling noise, and the sudden light blinds you for an instant, preventing you from seeing clearly. When your vision returns, thankfully without you getting hit by some cowardly bullet or flame, you can distinctly see Asriel calmly staring at you from near the exit, comfortably resting against a wall while waiting for you to come closer. He’s sporting his usual red and black striped sweater under his black jacket: evidently, if he had the time to put those on and still rush after you, he did not wake up as late as you thought.

                *Oh, thank goodness, you are alright! I was worried you had somehow already gotten past this door, but it seems you are not as fast as I predicted…

                He sizes you up from top to bottom, then smiles as he adds:

                *Seriously, I did not know humans’ bad dreams caused them to sleepwalk for so long: mine only used to make me cry, but it seems our species handle fear and pain much differently.

                *What the… how did you…?

                *I was keeping one hand on your chest the entire time, Queen… when you began convulsing in the middle of the night, I could not help but awaken. I could say that I am mad, but really, I am curious: what did you dream that was so frightening you just had to run all the way here?

                This is no time for friendly discussions, and he knows it: he just wants you to waste even more of your time. You stand in the middle of the hallway, a resolute gaze in your eyes, claiming:

                *I don’t have time for this. Just get out of my way, alright?

                The monster sighs as he turns to face the finely-decorated door, disappointed by your answer.

                *Honestly, I cannot understand why you have chosen to remain so stubborn: you _do_ understand that I am doing you a favor by keeping you here, right?

                Your previously stubborn expression wavers for a moment, but you quickly regain your composure. Turning around, the monster inquires, for once sounding genuinely worried:

                *How many times have you risked dying so far, just today? Do you really think it will be any better out there? No, it will be much, much worse… in fact, I dare say that your death out there is practically inevitable. The only reason you are still alive is because I decided you would be more useful to me as such…

                *Fuck you! The only reason I’m still alive is because I fought against all my enemies without relying on your, or anyone else’s help! You’re just another obstacle in my way, and nothing else!

                Asriel’s gaze turns colder upon hearing your retort, and even his voice slows down as he asks you:

                *…Is that really all I am to you? After everything I’ve done for you? After being the only monster in this hellhole willing to help you, to shelter you, to protect you? After risking my own life against an undefeatable enemy, just to try and save yours?

                The strength of Asriel’s pleas forces you to take a few steps backwards and consider your words carefully: you’ve always seen him as nothing more than a lunatic stalker, but now… now you’re not so sure anymore. With a calmer tone in your voice, you reply:

                *I risked my life for you too, you know? It’s not like I blame you for everything that happened to me down here. I don’t hate you for what you’ve done either… well, for the most part anyway: let’s be honest, you could’ve dialed down the edginess quite a bit, what with your threats of hurting me every couple seconds and everything.

                Asriel briefly giggles, but after that the room becomes quiet for the next few seconds. You spend quite a while gauging each other, trying to figure out if the other is being genuine or merely pretending… but it doesn’t seem like the monster’s concern for you is unfounded or inauthentic. It looks like he thinks the same of yours, too.

                *I will tell you something…

                You perk your ears and listen to the monster’s sudden spurt of loquacity. He shrugs his shoulders as something in-between a smile and a grin appear on his face, explaining:

                *I am willing to overlook this transgression of yours: it’s only natural, of course, for a human like you to be scared of this world… to be scared of me. I will give you one last chance: come back upstairs with me, and I will make sure that your stay becomes more… pleasurable, for me and you both. I will listen to your every concern. I will give you whatever you desire, within my abilities to do so. In turn, I only ask that you repay my hospitality by surrendering yourself to me, body and soul… what do you say?

                You hesitate to say ‘no’: after all, the promise of eternal safety, calm and happiness is truly promising to your eyes, and you are quite sure that Asriel is not lying to you right now… is this not what you wanted? Wasn’t survival all you were after in the first place? Is a life of comfort with Asriel at your side, here, in these forgotten ruins, a dream worth paying your freedom for?

                …And yet, you cannot bring yourself to accept. Unconvinced, you ask the bargaining monster:

                *Tell me: why do you care so much about me? Why do you really want me to stay here?

                *Whatever do you mean?

                *I mean that you’re not saying that out of concern for _me_. You don’t really care about my feelings, do you? You just don’t want your precious plaything to break before you can toy with it yourself…

                He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

                *I have my own reasons for wanting you to stay here: that just happens to be but one of them. I could go and say I have a few more that are a little less selfish, but… you would not believe me, would you?

                *Right off the bat? Not really, no.

                *Figured. So, now that you have your answer, does anything change? Is knowing my motivations enough to justify your foolish desire to leave? Is death truly better than a little sporadic hurt, just to sate my curiosity from time to time, and a few ‘hardcore’ cuddle sessions whenever I’m not busy treating you like the Queen you are?

                He extends his open, clawed paw towards you, symbolically inviting you to join him… but you can’t.

                *Look, I get it. I really do. The promise of a home to avoid certain death in sure sounds nice on paper, and I’m really tempted to accept even though you’re such an ass… but, even so…

                *Even so…?

                Your gaze becomes more resolute than ever and your words begin flowing out of your mouth like water from a spring: fast, firm, unrestrained.

                *…Even so, I can’t let myself become a bird trapped in a cage forever! I won’t! You’d just turn me into your scared little chicken, crying and begging for your help every time I’d need something I might as well get myself! I want to survive, that’s true… but life in a prison isn’t survival: it’s torture, and I won’t stand for that!

                You crack your knuckles and steady your breath, ready for a fight.

                *…It’s about time I broke out of here and tasted true freedom, with or without your consent! My life is mine and mine alone: I won’t let you or anyone else lay dibs on it, you hear me!?

                Asriel’s hand falls to his side, no longer interested in negotiation. He chuckles grimly for a few seconds, chilling the blood in your veins yet again, before commenting on your little speech, colder than ever:

                *’Freedom’… you really are no different than them after all. Willing to fight, to die for an abstract ideal that will only lead you closer to your doom… whatever would you do, without someone like me stopping you from throwing your life away as if it were scrap paper?

                The monster’s own knuckles crack at once, with far more potency than yours did: he’s trying to control it, but even you can tell that the rage building inside Asriel is magnitudes grander than your own.

                *And what’s with you humans and your… intense desire to march unhesitatingly to your untimely death? Are your lives so worthless in your eyes that death becomes a mere inconvenience to you? Or… maybe you just hate me so much you would rather die than stay here with me…

                Huge columns of black fire burst from the ground around the monster, enveloping the ground in a charred mantle of ash as the light in his own bright red eyes twists and turns like the flames dancing all around him. With a final, malevolent laugh, Asriel challenges you:

                *You are a fool if you think I will let you leave this place, dead or alive! You belong to me, now, human, and to no one else! You must be saved from yourself… and, if you will not accept truth and reason of your own volition, I will force you to with fear and flame!

                ( **The Dreamless -** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4VocUOB5tl>)

                Without hesitation, you rush after the enemy as fast as you can, avoiding countless black fireballs flying your way: once in range, you lunge at the monster’s chest with your fist, hitting a couple of times before being forced to temporarily withdraw by a column of fire emerging from the ground between you two.

                Undeterred, you strafe around the pillar and kick him straight in the side, damaging him somewhat but ultimately doing you more harm than good: taking advantage of your overextending, Asriel grabs your leg firmly with both claws and spins your helpless body around for a while, nauseating you before finally throwing you right back where you started, now sporting a few bumps and a slight headache. A warm liquid starts streaming down your right thigh where Asriel’s claws dug into your skin, but you do your best to ignore it.

                As you get up, you see Asriel slowly approaching you, a large grin on his muzzle.

                *Come on, is that all you have? Hard to believe you survived this long with so little technique!

                You charge the monster yet again, this time unable to avoid getting hit by a few fireballs that scorch some skin around your left shoulder and right cheek, forcing you to slow down a bit as you suppress a cry of pain; however, you keep moving forward undeterred. As you get close enough to land some hits, you ready your right fist and aim at his shoulder; blocked. You retreat your hand and strike again at his face; blocked, and this time he doesn’t let go of you. With your hand still stuck at a few inches away from his evil sneer, Asriel asks you, amused:

                *Is anger all you know how to fight with? It’s a good place to start, for sure… but it will not be enough to defeat me.

                *If it counts, I’ve also got a lot of… elbow grease!

                Instead of pushing with your fist like the monster assumed you would, you turn it to the side with unexpected speed, hitting his face with your rotating elbow with decent potency: he lets go of your arm, allowing you to strike him in the chest with your right elbow yet again, then uppercut him straight under his chin with your left fist. Staggered, he takes a few steps back; unrelenting, you quickly run after him before kicking him in the stomach with your left boot, then turning around and striking him straight in the head with a reverse-roundhouse.

                The monster is forced to retreat further in the back, eventually falling to his knees as he attempts to recover from your brutal assault. Hoping to finish the fight quickly, you charge him yet again… but fail to dodge a massive fire column emerging from right beneath you, sending you flying forward gracelessly. You tumble on the ground, feeling a deep pain all over your chest… and the rest of your body isn’t feeling too good, either. Before you can get back on your feet, Asriel grabs you by the arm and pulls you up himself, looking at you right in the eyes with a delighted look on his face.

                *Nice attempt, I will give you that… but the time for games is over.

                You can only watch as his fist is suddenly enveloped in his own black fire, and you cannot react fast enough when he uses it to sucker punch you in the gut: the hit is potent enough to make you cough up some blood as you kneel to cover your wound, and the pain only gets worse as the monster sends you flying backwards ungraciously with a fire-fueled kick.

                You somehow manage to land on your feet, but you still fall to the floor as a flurry of small fireballs lands all over you. You scream loudly, but you try not to make it last too long: you’re already losing this battle, you don’t want to give that monster even more reasons to feel good about himself. Moreover, your body is now covered by so many cuts, bruises and scorches that all your attempts at screaming are automatically suppressed by the crushing agony you’re in.

                *Are you ready to give up yet? It’s not too late to beg for mercy, you know? If you manage to look pitiful enough, I might even consider sparing you after all…

                You turn your gaze upwards, to meet with Asriel’s. He extends his arm towards you yet again, his tall figure looming in the distance. You’re not sure if you can keep this up: on one hand, you’re confident you can strike him down if you can get close enough… on the other, you’re not sure if you even can get that close. Still, it’s too late to give up. As you stand up and get in a fighting stance, you bravely yell:

                *Never! I’m not gonna bow to you, not now nor ever!

                *A shame… I was actually beginning to like you.

                With a snap of his fingers, countless black flames surround you: everywhere you look, there’s a menacing-looking fire ready to fly towards you whenever Asriel feels like ending you.

                * _Die_.

                The flames begin flowing towards you all at once, threatening to kill you faster than you can realize it. You close your eyes instinctively, shielding your chest with your arms as you await your end to come… is this really how you’re going to die? Are you just going to let that monster kill you, here, in the dark corners of this cavern? Is your dream of freedom fated to die with you?

                “No… I’m not gonna bend over and let that bastard murder me like this! I’m done playing nice: it’s time to show him what I can really do!”, you tell yourself, finally opening your eyes mere moments before the flames can strike you, “It’s time to show him the true meaning of…”

                *FREEDOM!

                You hear the loud rustling of chains breaking inside your heart: a new power shines within you, giving you the strength to fight on! All projectiles currently in the air suddenly become pure red, then fly towards your right fist as if drawn there by an unseen force: instead of hurting you, however, the flames condense around your limb like a second skin, floating mere inches away from your own.

                *What the… what the hell is that!?

                Ignoring Asriel’s exclamations, held in a trance-like state by this newfound strength, you run after him with your red arm shining brightly at your side: dodging more, increasingly less precise fireballs thrown by a now panicking opponent, you keep running until you are standing right before him, unhindered by the pain you still feel all over you. The frightened look in Asriel’s eyes betrays his shock and fear, and you cannot help but leer proudly as you strike the monster right in the face, crushing his grin under the weight of your fist.

                As if hit by the mightiest of trucks, Asriel flies backwards like a ragdoll, landing ungracefully on the floor as the red light enveloping your arm fades away. You fall to your knees once again, taking some time to catch your breath after such a tiresome fight.

                “I’ve done it…”, you proudly tell yourself as you look at Asriel’s unconscious body from afar, “You thought you had me, you son of a bitch! Well, too bad! Good thing I still had… whatever the hell that was...”

                You get up and begin walking towards the large door, hoping that it will open once you start pushing it: it’d be terrible, to say the least, if it refused to budge after everything you just went through. On the way there, you reach the comatose body of the monster you just fought: Asriel looks much less intimidating when he’s not actively trying to kill you… he almost looks like a child having a bad dream. Even after everything you’ve been through, you can’t help but feel bad for him for some reason. You really are too soft for your own good.

                You almost make it past him, when a soft, unfamiliar voice beckons you:

                *Oh, thank goodness: looks like Asriel’s still alright. You really hurt him bad there, you know?

                You jump, scared, and start looking all around you, wondering where that voice came from: however, you can’t see anyone anywhere around you. You briefly consider the possibility that it’s just that ghost from earlier pulling a prank on you, but the voice you just heard sounded nothing like Napstablook’s. After a while, you hear it again:

                * Wait, you…  you can hear me, right? I’m over here, next to Asriel… if you want to chat, I mean.

                You turn to face Asriel yet again, but there’s nothing there. Actually, scratch that: it’s barely visible, but some kind of faint vapor is coming out of Asriel’s chest… it gradually forms an image of sorts, waving at you with what looks like its hand. It looks like… a human?

                *Greetings. I’m, uh… well, my name’s of no importance. You’re the human Asriel’s so interested in, aren’t you?

                You’re not quite sure what you’re looking at: is it a ghost, or a figment of your imagination? Wouldn’t surprise you, what with how tired you are right now. Nevertheless, the silhouette you’re looking at has short, brown hair and red eyes, and it looks like they’re wearing a sweater and trousers much like Asriel’s. They keep looking at you calmly, a warm smile on their fluttering face.

                *Are you… real?

                *Of course I am! I’m a human, just like you… well, I used to be, anyway.

                *You mean you’re…

                *Dead, that’s right. Been dead for a long time, to be honest… not that I’m complaining. I’m glad you didn’t join me, though: you don’t look like the kind of girl that’d appreciate being stuck inside a monster’s soul for all eternity.

                Your mind connects the dots at once and finally understands who you’re talking to. Scared and curious at the same time, you ask, wanting an explanation:

                *You’re _them_ , aren’t you? The human that Asriel killed… the one who had their soul stolen from them…

                *Well, I wouldn’t say _stolen_ … I may not have chosen to die, but I did choose to give my soul to Asriel. I just… didn’t want to make my death hurt him even more, is all.

                You eye the ghost, sceptical.

                *Why would you even care about an asshole like him? He spent all day trying to threaten and hurt me, you know? I just had to beat his ass because he wouldn’t let me go!

                *He’s hurting too, you know? I’ve died because of the cruelty of the other monsters… he probably didn’t want you to suffer the same fate.

                That is… definitely another way to look at things, alright. You’re not ready to accept this interpretation, however: after everything that predator put you through, it’s quite hard to sympathize with him even in light of the human’s words. Before you can voice your disapproval, the image adds:

                *I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why you’d want to run away from here… but I wouldn’t stop you even if I could. I just wanted you to know that Asriel wasn’t lying, earlier: even if you can get past that door… the monsters on the other side won’t be as weak or as nice as you think. If you leave The Forgotten… you’ll die; that’s fine, however! I mean, I died, and I turned out alright… uh, I mean…

                You sigh, too tired to laugh at that joke… assuming that it was a joke. You turn to face the human’s spirit straight in the eyes as you ask them, curious:

                *Tell me, how did you die? I know that Asriel killed you, but… he never mentioned the details that really mattered.

                They sigh: they don’t seem to enjoy that memory of theirs a lot… understandable, to be honest. Still, they muster a smile as they explain:

                *It wasn’t easy before that… before the day I died, I mean. Even before I was brought to that place to be executed… Asriel used to hurt me a lot. He called me names, he beat me, he cut me, he did… a lot of things I’m not sure you want to hear. But, even so… I was fine with all that. It wasn’t so bad, now that I think about it.

                *Are you fucking kidding me!? He did all that, and you still stan this fucker!?

                *Sure. I mean, now that I’m dead, I can understand why he did what he did. And besides…

                The human’s smile grows larger as they take a break. It genuinely _scares_ you how happy they sound as they tell you:

                *…He was my best friend. Despite everything, he still loved me… and I loved him.

                Suddenly, the figure disappears entirely from your sights, and you can no longer hear their voice. You approach Asriel’s body, worried that something may have happened to them, but that only leaves you vulnerable as the unamused monster jumps up and grabs you by the shirt, taking advantage of your surprise to pin you to the floor.

                *Well, was that not a fun little nap? That attack of yours hurt me quite a lot, truth be told… where did you learn magic like that, human? I am quite curious, for once…

                You grit your teeth angrily as the monster presses his body against your own, holding you in place and preventing your escape. With a serious expression on his face, Asriel tells you:

                *Seems like your little escape ends here, huh? A pity… for you, that is. You should thank me that I am willing to let you live, after everything you put me through: you certainly would not have found someone willing to do the same out there. Now…

                His muzzle closes in on your ear, and whispers:

                *…Let’s go home now, shall we?

                You’re unsure of how much truth there was in that ghost’s words, if it was even real at all. You’re unsure of how much pity Asriel deserves from you, if he even deserves any at all. Of one thing, though… of one thing, you’re sure:

                “This bastard needs to pay!”, you tell yourself as a fire of fury and hatred begins burning in your eyes, “And pay he goddamn shall!”

                As this almost demonic strength begins coursing through your body, you reply, angry like never before:

                *You think you can just do whatever you want to everyone you meet, huh!? You think you can just torture people, hurt them as much as you want, then toss them in the trash or even kill them!?

                You manage to push Asriel away from you, then grab him by the sweater as he attempts to punch some flaming sense into you, in vain. Oblivious to the pain and his shouting, you keep on yelling:

                *I don’t care that you killed that human, or even that you tortured them… what pisses me off to no end, however… is that you pretended to be their friend first!

                You strike the monster in the gut with your clenched fist, your eyes shining with an unnatural red. Asriel briefly loses his composure and, before he can regain any of it, you strike him again, again and again, covering the entirety of his chest and face in cuts and bruises. He tries to defend himself from your onslaught, but it’s all for nothing: there is no end to this madness, not until you say so. Not until he can claim to have suffered half as much as that human he murdered did.

                With all your strength and rage focused in your fist, you strike Asriel in the head one last time, sending him flying towards the large door standing right before you: surprising both you and, most likely, the monster himself, the door’s frames open ever-so-slightly with an eardrum-shattering noise upon being hit by him, finally giving you a chance to escape… but that’s no longer what you’re interested in, is it? Now, the only thought crossing your mind is how much Asriel needs to pay for everything he’s done, both to you and to the human who fell before you.

                You rush after the monster as the doors already begin to close, jumping on top of him and hitting him repeatedly with no rhyme or reason: at first, the angry monster does his best to defend himself against your blows with little success but, upon seeing the doors closing right before him, his outrage is suddenly replaced by complete and utter fear. He screams, worried like a frightened child:

                *No! Get off of me, now!

                With newfound strength, he kicks you in the chest and sends you flying backwards, leaving you gasping breathless on the floor. In the corner of your eye, now returning to its usual shade of amber, you see Asriel run after the entrance, his right hand stretched outwards in a desperate attempt to reach it… but it’s ultimately too late. With a loud bang, the doors close right before him, making him crash against the cold stone they’re made of in a humiliating, yet very satisfying fashion.

                “I’ve… I’ve made it…”, you tell yourself, a smile finally on your face, “I’m… I’m outside…”

                Asriel collapses before the door, his claws producing a high-pitched screech as they scratch the rocky surface. In a grave tone that reeks of hate and anger, he suddenly shouts:

                *You… what have you done!?

                He turns around and runs after you, a hateful gaze in his eyes: you try to get up and fight, but your limbs are too tired to listen to your pleas and so you end up collapsing under the monster’s heavy weight, his paws binding your arms to the ground. Asriel’s teeth glisten right before your eyes, and you’re not sure what scares you the most: their sharpness, or the fact that there’s too many of them to count.

                *Do you have _any_ idea of what you’ve done!? That door can only be opened with a special key, you fool! Due to your sudden outburst of idiocy, you’ve locked us both out of The Forgotten! Are you really so dense you didn’t think of this when you shoved me out here with you!?

                Well, that is certainly something you did not consider: now not only are you outside of Asriel’s home, you’re stuck outside it too… you fail to see how this is a bad thing for you, though. The only one hurt by this unexpected turn of events is the monster, upon second thought… which is why you decide to act cocky yet again and comment, amused:

                *Wow, you’re finally talking like a normal person…

                Asriel suddenly grabs you by the neck with one hand, leaving your left arm free to fight back… but it’s too weak to do anything, even with his whole left flank exposed like this. You find breathing difficult as the monster tightens his grip on your neck, even digging with his claws in your skin as he tells you:

                *Shut it, you! This is no time for fun and games! Without a key to open that door, we’re stuck! You and me both, you insolent…

                He turns to face the door, asking himself:

                *And why was that door open in the first place!? Was it already open when we arrived!? Did _you_ open it!?

                He uses his other hand to search inside your pockets, looking for the key he’s so desperate for… but, weirdly enough, he can’t seem to find anything. Not even the bag of coins and secret diary you stashed there earlier… is he not looking deep enough?

                After probing your pockets with no success, Asriel tightens his grip around your neck even further, even adding a second hand to choke you more effectively. Your vision is already fading to white as he asks you, not expecting an answer:

                *Give me one reason, one _fucking_ reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here and now! Come on, human: give it to me!

                *…That… monster…

                You are not sure yourself how you managed to speak those words with Asriel choking you like this, or even what you were thinking of when you muttered them, if you were even thinking at all: nevertheless, the serial stalker gives you a confused, yet curious look as he gives you enough room to both breathe and speak, his hands still anchored around your neck.

                You briefly consider the two words you just spoke, hoping to quickly find a means within them to convince Asriel to delay your death… and, thankfully, your quick thinking shines yet again, allowing you to remember what your original thought was in just a few seconds. With newfound confidence, you tell the still furious monster:

                *That monster… the one that attacked us earlier… you said they had to be carrying a special key… to get past that door, right…? If you really wanna… get back inside… you just need to find them… and take their key…

                Asriel finally lets go of you, interested by your proposition. He stands up, turns around to avoid facing you as he considers this opportunity, and finally erupts in a laugh that is more nervous than it is evil or scary.

                *Of course! Of course, there’s always that damned monster from earlier… we’re not stuck outside, not at all! We’re just… going for a walk, to reclaim a spare key I didn’t know I had! Splendid idea, human: truly splendid indeed…

                He turns around yet again, looking at you with a mixture of awe and contempt.

                *Well then, seems like you get to live another day… at least until I find a way to get back inside. After that, well… I’ll figure out what to do with you.

                He grabs you by the shirt and pulls you back up, having thrown the concept of manners out the window.

                *As much as I hate having to shepherd someone as annoying and careless as you, I am afraid I will have to force myself to do just that. From now on, you will travel along with me, wherever and whenever I please. You did not want to be my queen, so now you will be my servant, whether you like it or not.

                *Fuck you, asshole!

                The monster grabs you by the shoulder and shoves you against a nearby wall with unexpected force, causing you to cough up a surprising amount of blood as your vision turns black for an instant.

                *I hope you grow some respect on our little journey, human, for your own sake: I tolerated your insolence up until now because I wanted to be nice for once, but right now I am not in the right mood to do any of that! So, in other words, my ‘Queen’… shut it!

                Asriel ungracefully lets you go: you immediately fall to your knees, broken and defeated. As you catch your breath, you see him in the corner of your eye, gesturing you to follow him at once. You were proud of your victory for one brief moment, but now the truth is laid bare to you: that bastard went soft on you. Real soft, too. You were right when you accused him earlier: the only reason he didn’t kill you was because he didn’t want to break his toy too soon… and, right now, the only reason keeping him from ending your life is the fact that he needs you to defeat that sword-wielding wannabe assassin.

                *I hope you can find some worth in the trouble you are putting me through, Queen… for I see none. Nothing’s changed: you are still mine, but without any of the benefits I promised you earlier. With some luck, this will teach you a valuable lesson on this ‘freedom’ you fought me over… and, of course, on what happens when you dare to cross me.

                You’re so angry right now that you could even punch a hole in the wall, if you still had the strength to do so… you feel like utter shit. You’re at your worst: weak, frail, helpless. The freedom you fought for, the freedom you were willing to risk your life for, now seems more distant than ever: instead of escaping from Asriel’s clutches, you fell right into them… tragic, and quite embarrassing too. You can’t do anything but get up and follow the furious monster deeper into the hallway.

                *Stay close to me: you might lose yourself in the darkness, never to come back… and we would not want that, now, would we?

                You do as the monster tells you to and stick to his side, even though your pride begs you not to. However, even though the light produced by the flame Asriel’s holding in his paw is bright enough to light the way, your vision only becomes more and more cloudy as time goes on. Slowly, inevitably, everything you see fades to black, and for a brief moment you feel like you’re floating above a sea of pure shadow…

 

                You suddenly find yourself in a peculiar room, unlike any you’ve ever been in: it’s completely empty, aside from a large patch of green on the floor with a large, black wooden door on the other side; the room is so big you cannot see the walls, if they are even present, and the grass is illuminated by a gloomy azure light that appears to come from somewhere above you, but there’s nothing there either. You turn to face the door where you came from: it’s gone.

                *Well, well, well… aren’t you the cleverest human in the Underground?

                 A familiar, unsettling voice beckons you from behind. As you turn around to check who’s talking to you, you’re surprised to find the black and white cat you met at the beginning of your journey is staring at you from the center of the grass patch, a large grin on its face.

                *Quite resourceful, too… you managed to not only survive, but make it all the way here through strength and diplomacy both! Truly, you’re a wonder to behold… I honestly thought you’d have died a long time ago, but thankfully that wasn’t the case: you’re much more entertaining alive, that’s for sure.

                You have no idea of what’s going on, but you’re filled with rage regardless. After battling Asriel for who knows how long, this is definitely not the recess you wanted or needed.

                *Who the hell are you, and what do you want from me!?

                *Come on, asking the same questions twice? You’re no fun at all when you do that…

                *Answer me, goddammit!

                The cat shrugs its shoulders, completely unfazed by your anger. If anything, its grin only grows bigger as it replies:

                *This is a room hidden between the folds of time and space… a safe haven of sorts, where you can rest and plan your next move. It’s a place you’ll become very familiar with quickly, trust me. As for me… I’m just a casual observer, nothing more and nothing less: I enjoy watching your struggles, but that’s about it. Happy now?

                *You… enjoy watching me struggle? What kind of sick asshole would like to do that!?

                *You’d be surprised. I must say, you’re putting on quite a show! I especially liked when you let that assassin cut right through you so you could dump a chandelier on them a moment later, but that’s just personal preference. Of course, your battle against that monster, Asriel, was particularly enjoyable too… even if it didn’t quite end with the ‘bang’ you were hoping for. Oh, well…

                You’re tempted to punch this small critter right in the grin, but you’re too tired to even think of doing it. You decide to calm down somewhat, and ask a few questions that, hopefully, this mysterious cat might be tempted to answer:

                *…So, just an observer, huh? Then why the hell are you talking to me right now? Isn’t that kinda against what you wanna do?

                *Perhaps. Still, someone has to take care of your inquisitive ass whenever you get badly injured: it’d be really disappointing if you died in the middle of your adventure not because of your own mistakes, but because of a few wounds you could have done without…

                You check your own body, spurred by the cat’s affirmation, and quickly discover that all wounds, scars and bruises suffered not only during the battle with Asriel, but during your entire stay in the Underground are completely gone. It’s like you never fought at all, and you feel more ready than ever to take on any monster standing in your way.

When you do turn your gaze upwards to face the cat yet again, though, you realize that it’s gone. Its voice lingers in the air around you, however, telling you with an almost cheerful voice:

                *Feel free to walk through that door whenever you feel like it: it’ll lead you right back where you came from. It’s quite cold where you’re going, so don’t be surprised if your clothes adjust themselves a little on your way out: consider it a small gift from me, completely free of charge. Good luck out there, Frisk: you’ll need plenty of it…

                You hear the door on the other side of the room unlocking, waiting for you to walk through it and resume your journey. You’re still unsure of what this place is supposed to be, or even if it’s real or just a figment of your imagination… but there’s one thing that presses you even more so than finding answers to those questions.

                You reach the patch of greenery in the middle of the room: it’s not simple grass as you originally thought it was, but rather a mass of small plants unlike any you’ve encountered in the Underground so far… you get on your knees and smell them, quickly realizing that…

                “Yep, it’s catnip. Of course it’s fucking catnip.”

                You get up and walk up to the much less intimidating door: after opening it and stepping through it, you’ll be back in that dark, narrow hallway with an angry Asriel right at your side… you hate the idea of going back there, but you can’t stay here forever. It’s time you headed back and resumed your struggle for survival and freedom, even though the idea of being a performer for that weird cat upsets you.

                “I’ve come so far, I can’t stop now.”, you tell yourself, “No matter what those two morons think of me, no matter what they want from me… they won’t be able to keep me trapped forever! I’ll show them both… I’ll show them that I’m not the kind of human you can fuck around and get away with!”

                You open the door, and a black light engulfs you: you feel your body being pulled inside as your consciousness briefly fades… and, when it returns, a little white snowflake lands right on your nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like Frisk has learned how to bomb, somehow. Curious how in neither Undertale nor Deltarune there is something akin to bombs or spell cards... so, I decided to invent something like that myself! Because it sounded cool on paper, and because having Frisk shout 'Freedom' and following it up with an oraoraora would have been too unoriginal.
> 
> Any thoughts? Please share them in the comments below: I never get tired reading and replying to those. =3


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